Death Toll In Peru Quake Tops 500

Dozens Of Aftershocks Follow Magnitude 8 Earthquake; More Than 1,500 Injured

(CBS/AP)  The earthquake's magnitude was raised from 7.9 to 8 on Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey. Dozens of aftershocks — including at least five on Friday — caused renewed anxiety, though there were no reports of additional damage or injuries.

President Alan Garcia flew by helicopter to Ica, a city of 120,000 where a quarter of the buildings collapsed, and declared a state of emergency.

Government doctors called off their national strike for higher pay to handle the emergency.

"There has been a good international response even without Peru asking for it, and they've been very generous," Garcia said during a stop in Pisco.

Promises of help are coming in from around the world, adds Solorzano. The Red Cross is vowing to send planes full of supplies, and the United Nations is pledging almost $1 million in aid.

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

The U.S. government released $150,000 in cash to pay for emergency supplies and dispatched medical teams — one of which was already on the ground. It also sent two mobile clinics and loaned two helicopters to Peruvian authorities.

But the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, now docked in Ecuador, won't make the three-day trip to Pisco because both governments decided it wasn't needed. The Comfort carries 800 medical personnel, but Peru needs supplies more than doctors, U.S. Embassy spokesman Dan Martinez said.

Electricity, water and phone service were down in much of southern Peru. The government rushed police, soldiers and doctors to the area, but traffic was paralyzed by giant cracks and fallen power lines on the Panamerican Highway.

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

Hundreds of injured lay side-by-side on cots on walkways and in gardens outside hospital buildings.

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

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

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

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

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

Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Jeanneth Valdivieso in Pisco and Monte Hayes in Lima contributed to this report.

[oakishpines]

to let a pet or a child run wild is a dangerous thing, for all my neighbors taught me to pick up stray pets and children and deposit them someplace civil where they may be chased through gardens and criticized to screaming and tears for naked lazy ignorant profane blemished tired hungry lusty bored scared sad or stray or for dancing, in a porno get sick tax world society, get well feed world songs rallied around sick beds drifting tens millions spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail groups

i''d rather be dead than to live in this perverted freakish land of the daring grindets and the home of the shock and awe swingones

if i have to break all the bones in my body and put them all back for se x and pleasure just one more time cause some hikenswim nerfbus bump car camp n nap somebody feels like get''n frisky,

i swear find a cure for the common life


'' ... why go to war to save the world from folk that invest money and votes in non-charity and taxation at gunpoint? ... ''

[iceman_1960]

"Earthquakes in mythology and religion

In Norse mythology, earthquakes were explained as the violent struggling of the god Loki. When Loki, god of mischief and strife, murdered Baldr, god of beauty and light, he was punished by being bound in a cave with a poisonous serpent placed above his head dripping venom. Loki''s wife Sigyn stood by him with a bowl to catch the poison, but whenever she had to empty the bowl the poison would drip on Loki''s face, forcing him to jerk his head away and thrash against his bonds, causing the earth to tremble.

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of earthquakes.

In Christian mythology, certain saints were invoked as patrons against earthquakes, including Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, Saint Agatha, Saint Francis Borgia, and Saint Emygdius."

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake#Earthquakes_in_mythology_and_religion

[iceman_1960]

Some of the ancient Greeks attributed earthquakes to the god Poseidon, "the Earth Shaker."

The historian Herodotus laughed at that idea, suggesting that they had natural causes, which modern science has confirmed.

[iceman_1960]

"Has anyone noticed that recently there have been quite a few earthquakes all around the world?"
- Posted by shanev137 at 02:15 AM : Aug 17, 2007

There have always been earthquakes.

Sometimes they seem to happen in clusters.

Ancient societies like Crete have been disrupted by them. That''s how the legend of Atlantis got started.

[infidel_us]

Has anyone noticed that recently there have been quite a few earthquakes all around the world?
Posted by shanev137 at 02:15 AM : Aug 17, 2007

It''s that global warming caused by Bush and Rove and the military industrial complex! See whose laughing now - you neorepurgicons!!!!!

[pepperp1]

Has anyone noticed that recently there have been quite a few earthquakes all around the world?
Posted by shanev137 at 02:15 AM : Aug 17, 2007

Yep Mother natures shock and awe, what about our State on the west coast..........all the wild fires, drought, no bees...sad and dangerous

[shanev137]

Has anyone noticed that recently there have been quite a few earthquakes all around the world?

[libsluvsuvs]

Posted by newster1 at 10:00 PM : Aug 16, 2007
+ report abuse

****

and you are blaming an entity that you dont believe in? let me guess, can I guess when you lost faith...

they day you prayed for a million dollars and God did not answer your prayers

[nothappyatall]

god strikes again, killing more innocent people by moving or allowing to move- the ground HE/SHE/IT CREATED knowing full well the consequences.
Murderer, feel free to worship this murderer or learn the truth;

god doesnt bless people, the lord doesnt help people, and prayers dont work.

www.zeitgeistmovie.com
www.atheists.org
www.evilbible.com

[jlenowitz2]

If you''re looking for a good charity to support, Direct Relief International may be worth a look. They''ve already got medical aid on the ground, and are sending more. Check out what they''re doing at http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2007/EarthquakePeru/EarthquakePeru.aspx

[jlenowitz2]

If you''re looking for a good charity to support, Direct Relief International may be worth a look. They''ve already got medical aid on the ground, and are sending more. Check out what they''re doing at http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2007/EarthquakePeru/EarthquakePeru.aspx

[bareemperor]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007gbcv.php#maps

More info from USGS

[libsluvsuvs]

you were so busy being an ******** that you just simply missed the while thing.

[processor2]

Forget politics for a minute

Seven point nine is HUGE

I wish the best of luck to the people of Peru


...

[samthetvcat]

Wow, that''s so sad to hear about because the know-how exists today to make buildings more earthquake-proof if the money''s there.

Now that we have the internet it feels like so many of these natural disasters like the tsunami and this earthquake are happening right around the corner . . . so frustrating to see other people suffer . . .

[neobrian-2009]

Infidelican,..You are Such an Indecent Moron,..I have many friends in Peru,All of which are much better people than You ,..

[red164]

With all the spying technology the BUSH Admin has you would''ve thought the medias info on this Killer Quake would be more accurate immediately after it hit.

The early reports were claiming that it caused minor damage and a few deaths.