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Peru earthquake death toll rises to = 510

By JEANNETH VALDIVIESO, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 16, 11:03 PM ET

PISCO, Peru - The death toll rose to 510 on Thursday in the = magnitude-8=20 earthquake that devastated cities of adobe and brick in Peru's southern desert. Survivors wearing = blankets=20 walked like ghosts through the ruins. Dust-covered dead were pulled out = and laid=20 in rows in the streets, or beneath bloodstained sheets at damaged = hospitals and=20 morgues.

Doctors struggled to help more than 1,500 injured, including hundreds = who=20 waited on cots in the open air, fearing more aftershocks would send the=20 structures crashing down.

Destruction was centered in Peru's southern desert, at the oasis city = of=20 Ica and the nearby port of Pisco, about 125 miles southeast of the = capital, Lima.

The deputy chief of Peru's fire department, Roberto Ognio, presented = a report=20 saying the death toll from the quake had risen to 510. He did not say = where the=20 additional 60 deaths had occurred.

Earlier Thursday, the United = Nations said the=20 official toll of 450 dead was expected to rise.

"It is quite likely that the numbers will continue to go up since the = destruction of the houses in this area is quite total," said U.N. = Assistant=20 Secretary-General Margareta Wahlstrom.

The San Clemente church in the main plaza of the gritty fishing port = of Pisco=20 was perhaps the single deadliest spot in the magnitude-8 earthquake, = which=20 devastated cities and hamlets of adobe and brick across Peru's southern=20 desert.

Hundreds had gathered in the pews of the San Clemente church = Wednesday =E2=80=94 the=20 day Roman Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary's rise into heaven = =E2=80=94 for a special=20 mass marking one month since the death of a Pisco man.

The church ceiling began to break apart as the shaking began and = lasted for=20 an agonizing two minutes, burying 200 people, according to the town's = mayor. On=20 Thursday, only two stone columns and the church's dome rose from a giant = pile of=20 stone, bricks, wood and dust.

Rescuers pulled out bodies all day and lined them up on the plaza = =E2=80=94 at least=20 60 by late afternoon. Civil defense workers then arrived and zipped them = into=20 body bags. But relatives searching desperately for the missing opened = the=20 zippers, crying hysterically each time they recognized a familiar = face.

Few in the traumatized crowds would talk with journalists. One man = shouted at=20 the bodies of his wife and two small daughters as they were pulled from = the=20 rubble: "Why did you go? Why?"

"The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets," Pisco Mayor = Juan=20 Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN, sobbing. "We don't have lights, = water,=20 communications. Most houses have fallen. Churches, stores, hotels = =E2=80=94 everything=20 is destroyed."

Rescue worker Jose Nez, who went into the church wreckage dozens of = times,=20 said rescuers would keep it up "until the end," as a mechanical shovel = cleared=20 away chunks of adobe.

As dusk fell, Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said finding survivors = seems=20 increasingly unlikely.

"We keep losing hope of finding someone alive after 24 hours have = passed"=20 since the quake struck, Vallejos told The Associated Press outside of = the=20 church.

But around 6:30 p.m., almost 24 hours since the quake struck, a man = who=20 identified himself only as "Alfredo" was pulled from the rubble by six=20 firemen.

Some 17 people died inside a church in Ica,=20 the Canal N cable news station said. The historic Senor de Luren church = was=20 among several heavily damaged in Ica, where at least 57 bodies were = taken to the=20 morgue.

The earthquake's magnitude was raised from 7.9 to 8 on Thursday by = the U.S. Geological Survey. At least 14 = aftershocks of=20 magnitude 5 or greater followed. The tremors caused renewed anxiety, = though=20 there were no reports of additional damage or injuries.=20

President Alan Garcia flew by helicopter to Ica, a city of 120,000 = where a=20 quarter of the buildings collapsed, and declared a state of emergency. = He said=20 flights were reaching Ica to take in aid and take out the injured. = Government=20 doctors called off their national strike for higher pay to handle the = emergency.=20

"There has been a good international response even without Peru asking for it, and they've been very = generous,"=20 Garcia said during a stop in Pisco, = where so=20 many buildings fell that streets were covered with small mountains of = adobe=20 bricks and broken furniture.=20

The help includes cash from the United States, United Nations, Red Cross and European Union as well as tents, water, = medicine and=20 other supplies. The U.S. Navy = hospital ship=20 Comfort, equipped with a staff of 800 and 12 operating rooms, is in = Ecuador and could quickly sail to Peru if = asked, U.S.=20 officials said.=20

In Washington, President Bush = offered=20 condolences and said the administration was studying how best to send = help. One=20 American died in the quake, according to the State Department.=20

Electricity, water and phone service were down in much of southern = Peru. The=20 government rushed police, soldiers and doctors to the area, but traffic = was=20 paralyzed by giant cracks and fallen power lines on the Panamerican = Highway.=20 Large boulders also blocked Peru's Central Highway to the Andes = mountains.=20

Many people said they had seen "lights in the sky," a phenomenon = authorities=20 attributed to short circuits at electrical plants where the quake = damaged cables=20 and other equipment.=20

In Chincha, a small town near Pisco only 25 miles from the quake's = epicenter,=20 an AP Television News cameraman counted 30 bodies in a hospital patio. = The face=20 of one victim was uncovered, her eyes open. The feet of another stuck = out from=20 under a blanket.=20

Hundreds of injured lay side-by-side on cots on walkways and in = gardens=20 outside hospital buildings, kept outside for fear that aftershocks could = topple=20 the cracked walls.=20

"Our services are saturated and half of the hospital has collapsed," = Dr.=20 Huber Malma said as he single-handedly attended to dozens of patients.=20

The quake toppled a wall in Chincha's prison, allowing at least 600 = prisoners=20 to flee. Only 29 had been recaptured, national prisons official Manuel = Aguilar=20 said.=20

Overstretched police and rescue workers in orange uniforms sought to = help=20 survivors trying to get some sleep in the streets amid collapsed adobe = homes.=20

"We're all frightened to return to our houses," Maria Cortez said, = staring=20 vacantly at the half of her house that was still standing.=20

The Peruvian Red Cross arrived in Ica and=20 Pisco 7 1/2 hours after the quake, about three times as long as it would = normally have taken because of road damage, Red Cross official Giorgio = Ferrario=20 said.=20

In Lima, 95 miles from the = epicenter, only=20 one death was recorded. But the furious two minutes of shaking prompted=20 thousands to flee into the streets and sleep in public parks.=20

"The earth moved differently this time. It made waves and the earth = was like=20 jelly," said Antony Falconi, 27, trying to find a bus to take him home.=20

Scientists said the quake was a "megathrust" =E2=80=94 a type of = earthquake similar=20 to the catastrophic Indian Ocean temblor in 2004 that generated deadly = tsunami=20 waves. "Megathrusts produce the largest earthquakes on the planet," said = USGS=20 geophysicist Paul Earle.=20

Wednesday's quake caused a tsunami as well, but scientists expected = surges of=20 no more than 1.6 feet in faraway Japan.=20

In general, magnitude 8 quakes are capable of causing tremendous = damage.=20 Quakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3 are the smallest generally felt, and every = increase=20 of one number on the magnitude scale means that the quake's magnitude is = 10=20 times as great.=20

The temblor occurred in one of the most seismically active regions in = the=20 world at the boundary where the Nazca = and South=20 American tectonic plates meet. The plates are moving together at a rate = of 3=20 inches (7.5 cms) a year, Earle said.=20

The last time a quake of magnitude 7.0 or larger struck Peru was in September 2005, when a = 7.5-magnitude=20 earthquake rocked the country's northern jungle, killing four people. In = 2001, a=20 7.9-magnitude quake struck near the southern Andean city of Arequipa, killing 71.=20

___=20

Associated Press writers Monte Hayes, Edison Lopez and Leslie Josephs = in=20 Lima, Martin Mejia and Mauricio Munoz = in Ica, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Alicia Chang in Los Angeles and Sarah DiLorenzo in New York contributed to this report.

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