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Carlos Vallejos, health minister, traveled overnight to the hardhit southern coastal region of Ica to survey the damage. The government also sent a convoy of trucks to the region carrying medical supplies, doctors and nurses.

The quake and aftershocks sparked panic in the capital, Lima, where people camped on the streets for hours after the first big tremor and most buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

Cut telephone lines were gradually reconnected in the capital and power and water services continued.

The quake struck just offshore at 6:41 p.m. Wednesday (7:41 a.m. Thursday Beijing Time) and prompted evacuations along the Pacific coast because of fears of a tsunami. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later lifted its warnings.

The Peruvian Government declared its highest state of emergency as authorities grappled with collapsed buildings and cut power and telephone lines.

Hospitals around the country were put on high alert amid predictions the death toll would rise and the health ministry made an emergency appeal for blood donations.

President Alan Garcia went on national television to appeal for calm. “Fortunately, the number of dead is not high for a quake of this power,” he said. “Thanks to God almighty, it has not been as serious as in the past.”

Peru has long lived in fear of a repeat of a 1970 earthquake that killed 70,000 people, many of whom perished in the mountain city of Huaraz which was buried by a mudslide.

A 2001 earthquake in Arequipa killed 75 people and destroyed 25,000 homes.(SD-Agencies)