Powerful 8.0 Magnitude Earthquake Kills at Least 450 in Peru

ICA, Peru — Rescuers struggled across a shattered countryside on Thursday to reach victims of a magnitude-8 earthquake that killed at least 450 people. About 1,500 people were reported injured.

The center of the destruction was in Peru's southern desert, in the oasis city of Ica and the nearby port of Pisco, about 125 miles southeast of the capital, Lima. Pisco's mayor said at least 200 people were buried in the rubble of a church where they had been attending a service. "The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets," Mayor Juan Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN.

"We don't have lights, water, communications. Most houses have fallen. Churches, stores, hotels — everything is destroyed," the mayor said, sobbing.

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