Search for survivors as Peru quake toll rises to 510

Rescue workers continued to search for survivors of Peru’s earthquake as the toll of known dead rose to 510.

The magnitude-8 quake devastated parts of Peru’s southern desert region, centring on the oasis city of Ica and the nearby port of Pisco, about 125 miles southeast of the capital, Lima.

Hundreds had gathered in the pews of San Clemente church in the main plaza of the fishing port of Pisco on Wednesday for a special Mass marking one month since the death of a Pisco man.

The shaking started as worshippers were getting ready to leave. It lasted for two terrible minutes and left most of the church in rubble, burying 200 people, according to Pisco Mayor Juan Mendoza.

Rescuers laid out the dust-covered dead beneath sheets.

Civil defence workers then arrived and zipped them into body bags.

“The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets,” Mendoza said.