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Strong earthquake strikes Peru

By LESLIE JOSEPHS, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

LIMA, Peru - A powerful earthquake shook Peru's coast near the capital on Wednesday, = reportedly=20 killing at least 17 people as it toppled buildings and caused many = residents to=20 flee homes. Authorities said the quake had generated a small tsunami but = it=20 wasn't destructive.

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Peru's highly respected Cable news station Canal N reported that the = 7.9=20 magnitude quake had caused a church to collapse in the city of Ica south of Lima, killing 17 people and = injuring=20 70.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the = earthquake hit at 6:40 p.m. (7:40 p.m. EDT) about 90 miles southeast of = Lima at=20 a depth of about 25 miles. Four strong aftershocks ranging from = magnitudes of=20 5.4 to 5.9 were felt afterwards.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami = Warning=20 Center responded with a tsunami warning for the coasts of Peru, Chile, = Ecuador, Colombia,=20 Costa Rica and Panama. A tsunami watch was issued for the = rest of=20 Central America and Mexico and an = advisory for=20 Hawaii.

The center canceled all the alerts after about two hours, but it said = the=20 quake had caused an estimated 10-inch tsunami near the epicenter.

"It wasn't big enough to be destructive," said Stuart Weinstein, the = center's=20 assistant director.

An Associated Press photographer said that homes had collapsed in the = center=20 of Lima and that many people had fled into the streets for safety. The = capital=20 shook for more than a minute.

Firefighters quoted in radio reports said that many street lights and = windows=20 shattered in Lima but did not specify if there were any injuries. = Hundreds of=20 workers were evacuated from Lima office buildings after the quake struck = and=20 remained outside, fearing aftershocks

Callers to Radioprogramas, Peru's main news radio station, said parts = of=20 several cities in southern Peru had been hit with blackouts. Callers = reported=20 homes in poor neighborhoods in Chincha and Cerro Azul had collapsed.

The quake also knocked out telephone service and mobile phone service = in the=20 capital. Firefighters were called to put out a fire in a shopping = center. State=20 doctors called off a national strike that began on Wednesday to handle = the=20 emergency.

The last time a quake of magnitude 7.0 or larger struck Peru's = central coast=20 was in 1974 when a magnitude 7.6 hit in October followed by a 7.2 a = month=20 later.

The latest Peru quake occurred in a subduction zone where one section = of the=20 Earth's crust dives under another, said USGS geophysicist Dale Grant at = the=20 National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

Some of the world's biggest quakes strike in subduction zones = including the=20 catastrophic Indian Ocean temblor in 2004 that generated deadly tsunami=20 waves.

The tsunami warnings caused alarm up and down the coast.

Alex Kouri president of the Callao region, which includes the port of = Callao,=20 adjacent to Lima, urged residents to remain calm in the face of any = possible=20 tsunami, while other officials told Radioprograms they were going to = evacuate La=20 Punta, a Callao neighborhood, because of the potential threat of a = tsunami.

In Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe = ordered=20 the partial evacuation of the southern city of Tumaco in response to the = warning.

In a press conference, Uribe said residents living along the coastal = areas of=20 Tumaco, Colombia's southernmost city near the border with Ecuador, should immediately move to higher = ground as=20 a preventive measure in case a tsunami strikes.

"The reports we received about a possible tsunami are contradictory = so we've=20 asked that, according to emergency disaster plans, authorities = immediately begin=20 the partial evacuation of Tumaco," said Uribe.=20

_____=20

Associated Press writer Alicia Chang in Los=20 Angeles contributed to this report.

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Copyright =C2=A9 2007 The Associated Press. All rights = reserved. The=20 information contained in the AP News report may not be published, = broadcast,=20 rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The = Associated=20 Press.

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