Rare & Powerful Quake hit hard on Peru

Coastal Peru and the country's capital Lima were rocked late Wednesday by a strong, rare, powerful and prolonged earthquake measured at 8.0 magnitude. The quake struck at 6:41 pm (2341 GMT), with the epicentre located 46 kilometres east-southeast of Lima at a depth of 178 kilometres.

The ground in Lima shook violently for about one minute, and was followed shortly by a smaller aftershock, generating panic, shattering windows and leaving visible damage in buildings.

Panic was unleashed in Pisco when a strong aftershock measuring 5.5 on the open-ended Richter scale and lasting 10 seconds, struck the region at 8:19 am (1319 GMT) Friday, according to the Peruvian Geophysical Institute. There had been some 300 aftershocks since Wednesday's quake.

The Pacific Tsumani Information Centre issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coast of South America - Peru , Chile, Ecuador and Colombia. It also issued a tsunami watch advisory for Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and Honduras. It said the warning was based only on an evaluation of the quake.