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Last Updated: Thursday, 16 August
2007, 03:00 GMT 04:00 UK

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Peru capital rocked by 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Colombia has been withdrawn.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."

'Violent shaking'

An Associated Press photographer said that homes had collapsed in
the centre of Lima. Witnesses reported hundreds of residents running
into the streets, after the tremors were felt at 1840 (2340 GMT).

"I heard quite violent shaking, books falling off the bookcase,
lampshade falling over and pictures falling off the wall, and I went
to the safe-zone by the lift," said the BBC's Dan Collyns in Lima.

"Fortunately I live in a building which has been specially built
to deal with earthquakes and tremors, which are quite common in Lima
and around Peru.

"But in other parts of Lima, where the buildings are often of
very poor quality, there will have been considerable damage, I would
imagine."

Lima resident Cristyane Marusiak told Reuters news agency:
"People here are hugging and crying in fear on the streets."

The US Geological Survey at first said there were two earthquakes
within minutes of each other but later amended its reports to show
that one quake struck at a depth of around 25 miles (40 km) below
the earth's surface.

Are you in the Peruvian capital or surrounding areas? Have you
felt the effects of the earthquake? Send us your
observations.

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VIDEO AND AUDIO NEWS
Panic
on the streets of Lima

SEE ALSO

Country
profile: Peru
12 May 07 |  Country
profiles

How
earthquakes happen
22 Feb 05 |
Science/Nature

Race to find
Peru quake survivors
24 Jun 01 |
Americas

Earthquake
rocks Peru
24 Jun 01 |  Americas

RELATED INTERNET LINKS

Peruvian
government (in Spanish)

US Geological
Survey

Pacific
Tsunami Warning Centre

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external
internet sites

FROM OTHER NEWS SITES

MSNBC Magnitude
7.9 Earthquake Jolts Peru - 23 mins ago

Al
Jazeera Deadly quake hits Peru - 32 mins
ago

Times
Union Strong earthquake strikes Peru - 32
mins ago

Telegraph Powerful
earthquakes rock Lima - 45 mins ago

CBC Deadly
quake rocks Peru, prompts tsunami warnings - 51 mins
ago

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