Rescue teams prepare to enter a collapsed building in Pisco.

Local volunteers help distribute relief items in San Jose. Goods distributed include beans, rice, tuna, milk, water, soap, plastic sheeting and more.

Chincha, Peru - After a two-minute long 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck Peru, the death toll has risen to 500 and is still climbing.

Relief and emergency workers are still working to reach the buried and wounded.

OBI's in-country disaster relief teams, accompanied by Peru's Secretary of State, Raul Garcia Belaunde, are currently working in the hardest-hit areas. Teams are administering medicine and IV's to the injured as well as distributing food, water and blankets to survivors.

"It is winter in Peru and the nights are freezing cold," said OBI's David Darg who is working with relief teams in Peru. "Thousands of people are living in the streets. We have been providing temporary shelter and blankets in an effort to keep them warm and out of the emergency clinics."

In Ica, where the population tops seven million, a main operating room in one hospital has collapsed and there is no place to perform surgery on the injured.

"In one town, the entire community is sitting outside, because as the aftershocks hit, pieces of their homes are falling,"said Jordan Durso, OBI's regional director for Latin America. "None of the houses have roof tops and the people are literally afraid to go into their homes."

City streets, bridges and electrical lines have all suffered severe damage, and providing aid to the stranded and injured is difficult. Hundreds of buildings and homes have crumbled and bodies are still lying in the streets.

OBI teams are providing transportation and logistical support to help distribute food, building materials, water, medicine and more – particularly in rural areas that have not yet received aid. In areas not accessible by road, OBI is helping to coordinate air support by helicopter or plane.

In addition, OBI has also gather supplies to help build 480 temporary houses.

The earthquake hit about 90 miles southeast of Lima, at 6:40 Wednesday night local time. The U.S. Geological Survey raised the magnitude to 8.0 Thursday, from 7.9 on the Richter scale reported earlier. More than a dozen aftershocks have followed, some as strong as 6.3 officials reported.

Peru is no stranger to large-scale earthquakes. In 2001, a 7.9 magnitude quake hit killing 71 people. In 1970, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake claimed the lives of more than 47,000 people.

OBI teams are also conducting relief efforts in the hard-hit areas of Ica and Pisco.

AP contributed to this report.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

 

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