To all Kossacks with Peruvian connections. A major 7.9 earthquake has hit near Ica causing widespread damage in the city. Iglesia Luren collapsed on a group of parishioners killing at least 15. Many more dead are feared in outlying areas of Ica and Northern Ica Province Lima was badly shaken but seems to have escaped major damage. aftershocks are rattling across the region. All tsunami warnings have now been cancelled. The tsunamis were small except around Callao which was evacuated. Lima port was also evacuated.
Minute by Minute updates can be found here (mostly in English)on the Living Perú website.
UPDATE 1: Hospital in Chincha collapsed, hundreds reported injured on streets. Chincha in ruins. Pisco reporting 6 dead.
UPDATE 2: Pan-American Highway reported washed out by Tsunami south of Chincha.
UPDATE 3: Seventy (70) now reported dead in Ica with much of the city badly destroyed. Over 50 aftershocks felt in area. Some homes in Lima's historic district of Barrios Altos have partially collapsed.
UPDATE 4: Hospitals in Ica and Cañete have reportedly collapsed and mobile hospitals are being rushed to the region.
UPDATE 5: The Government has declared a state of emergency for Ica Region. You can listen to live RPP radio here
UPDATE 6: Prison collapsed in Pisco. Many poorly constructed homes and buildings in Pisco, Ica, Chincha and Cañete have collapsed and road system severely damaged in places. These seem to be the four major population centres hit, obviously reports from rural areas will be far slower coming in.
UPDATE 7: Reports now coming in from Paracas of extensive damage and a collapsed hotel. Repeated reports of very extensive damage in Pisco.
UPDATE 8: New details on dead and injured.
Ica 70 dead, 800 injured
Pisco 19 dead, 100s injured
Cañete 5 dead
Mala 1 dead
UPDATE 9:
Death Toll in Ica passes 100 with nearly 1000 injured.
UPDATE 10: Civil Defence Institute now saying 331 killed in quake with the majority of casualties from Ica and Pisco.
From BBC:
Peru capital rocked by earthquake
Pedestrians try to make phone calls in the streets of Lima after the earthquake
Residents took to the streets in Lima as buildings shook violently
An earthquake measuring 7.9 has hit Peru, centred 160km (100 miles) from the capital, Lima, the US Geological Survey reports.
Some houses collapsed, and power supplies and phone lines were cut.
Reports say at least 15 people were killed when a building collapsed in the town of Ica, south of the capital. Seventy others were injured.
A tsunami alert issued earlier for Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia has been withdrawn.
Barry Hirshorn, of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii, told the BBC that there had been no evidence of a tsunami:
"Because we've now looked at a number of water-gauges where we should have seen a tsunami by now which have no information on them, we're going to cancel."
From El Commercio
Al menos 16 muertos y unos 200 heridos dejó el terremoto en Ica
El Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos corrigió la magnitud del sismo y señaló que fue de 7,9 grados en la escala de Richter
Washington. (EFE/Elcomercio.com.pe).- Un boletín anterior del organismo había dicho que sus sismógrafos habían establecido la magnitud del terremoto en 7,5 grados Richter.
La costa central de Perú fue estremecida por un fuerte temblor que dejó al menos 16 muertos y decenas de heridos en la ciudad de Ica, según el canal Panamericana Televisión.
El Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos, con sede en Boulder, Colorado, señaló que el movimiento telúrico se registró a las 6.40 p.m., a una profundidad de 40 kilómetros. El epicentro se detectó 148 kilómetros al sur-suroeste de Lima, y a 110 kilómetros al noroeste de Ica.
Mientras tanto, varios medios de comunicación en Lima informaron sobre las primeras cifras de muertos por el poderoso sismo. En Ica se han reportado al menos 16 muertos y unos 200 heridos. Las autoridades temen que con el transcurso de las horas, esta cifra se incremente.
Por su parte, el presidente Alan García confirmó la existencia de un número indeterminado de muertos y de más de 70 heridos por el terremoto y pidió a los ciudadanos alejarse de la costa como medida de prevención ante un posible tsunami.