7.9 Earthquake in Peru

A powerful earthquake struck Peru's central coast at 18:40 local time Wednesday, shaking buildings in the capital, prompting a tsunami warning, killing hundreds of people and injuring at least 1,000 others. More deaths and injuries are being reported hourly.

Peru's Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said in a radio broadcast early Thursday that the quake has claimed at least 115 lives and injured more than 1,000 other people.

But the nation's civil defense agency, which is in charge of rescue efforts, said on its website that more than 330 people have died.

The quake caused cars to jump and shattered windows of some downtown Lima buildings. People fled into the streets of Lima, and communities closer to the epicenter, near the hardest hit city of Ica, a city of 650,000 people located 165 miles southeast of the capital.

Many Lima residents chose to bed down outside after the quake shook their homes. (Photo credit unknown)

The quake measured magnitude 7.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and four strong aftershocks were felt following the main quake.

The epicenter was placed at about 90 miles southeast of Lima at a depth of about 25 miles, according to the Geophysics Institute of Peru.