Rescuers search for signs of life in southwestern Peru

PISCO,Peru-Rescuers dug through rubble in the towns of southwestern Peru on Friday, searching for signs of life following Wednesday's 8.0-magnitude earthquake.In Pisco, workers combed through the debris of a hotel where the owner said at least 35 of his guests were missing. The search for survivors on the site quickened earlier in the day, the owner said, when the brother of one of the guests received a text message from his missing sibling, still under the rubble.The quake killed more than 500 people and injured more than 1,000, Peruvians officials said. The death toll is likely to rise, they said.Aftershocks have rattled the ground each day since the collapse.The most recent-with a magnitude of 4.9-rattled the region at about 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET) on Friday. It came eight hours after a 5.9-magnitude aftershock. A 6.3-magnitude aftershock struck early Thursday, hours after the main quake.No injuries or damage from the aftershock were immediately reported, according to Reuters.Meanwhile, funeral processions-some serenaded by mariachi bands-passed through the streets behind the struggling workers.
At least 60 bodies were pulled from the rubble of the church and lined up in the city's plaza, the AP reported. As many as 200 people were in the church when it broke apart, the town's mayor told the AP.Earlier Thursday, Peruvian President Alan Garcia arrived by helicopter in Pisco, a city of 68,000, about 160 miles (257 kilometers) southeast of the capital,Lima.More than17,000 homes-85 percent of the town-collapsed.Residents yelled, "Help us, help us," as Garcia passed by them.At one point, the president saw several children wandering aimlessly.
"Oh, my God, who do these little children belong to?" he asked."The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets.We don't have lights, water,communications.Most houses have fallen.
Churches, stores, hotels-everything is destroyed,"Pisco Mayor Juan Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN,according to the AP.Garcia declared a state of emergency and promised the government would "ensure that regional and local governments, civil defense institutions and ministries can spend what they need to, rapidly and immediately."Ica residents said they had received no aid or even visits from government or aid officials.The U.S. military said Friday it was dispatching a 30-member medical team from a base in Honduras to the quake-stricken area of Peru.More aid is available at the request of the Peruvian government, U.S. officials said.Peruvian authorities initially struggled to get relief supplies into the area because highways were damaged by the earthquake.However, a spokesman for the Peruvian Embassy in Washington said later that road links had been reopened into the quake zone, allowing supplies to flow south from Lima and north from Arequipa.Health Minister Carlos Vallejos described Pisco as "really in crisis.""There's aren't any buildings that are in good condition.Even the very modern buildings around the central plaza are totally destroyed," he told Andina Television.
Water and electricity were out, and telephone service was "very limited," he said.Television stations pleaded with viewers not to use cell phones for routine communications to keep the airwaves open for emergency use.The Peruvian Embassy spokesman, Vladimir Kocerha, said Peru probably will put out a call for international aid, "preferably monetary." The U.S. Agency for International Development offered $100,000 to meet immediate emergency needs.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/17/peru.earthquake/index.html


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