A strong aftershock has hit Peru as rescue teams continue to search for survivors of yesterday's powerful earthquake.
The aftershock, measuring 6.0 on the Richter Scale, was the latest of an estimated 300 aftershocks since the 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck yesterday.
An estimated 510 people have so far been confirmed dead with another 1,600 injured.
Thursday's 8.0 magnitude earthquake occurred beneath the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Ica province, around 145km from the capital Lima.
Many buildings in the region have been devastated, major road links closed and power lines have been knocked out across the country.
Peruvian President Alan Garcia, while visiting the stricken area yesterday, declared three days of national mourning for the earthquake victims, ordering that all public buildings be closed.
Hospitals and morgues have been overwhelmed and tens of thousands of people spent another night on the streets, amid fears of further aftershocks.
And the UN and the International Red cross have sent two planes containing relief suppliers to the region.
Rescuers have yet to reach all of those affected in the worst hit coastal areas of Ica, Pisco and Chincha.
The mayor of Pisco, which appears to have suffered the worst damage, said the situation was indescribable, with hundreds of dead lying in the streets.
Tsunamis flooded fishing villages on the Paracas bay, causing some damage, according to the locals.
And in Chincha, some 600 inmates fled the local prison after the quake struck.
The earthquake is one of the worst natural disasters to hit the South American country in the past 100 years. In 1970, an earthquake killed an estimated 50,000 Peruvians in catastrophic avalanches of ice and mud that buried the town of Yungay.
