By MARTIN MEJIA and MAURICIO MUNOZ
The Associated Press

ICA, Peru - Rescuers struggled across a shattered countryside on Thursday to reach victims of a magnitude-8.0 earthquake that killed at least 355 people. More than 1,500 people were reported injured and the Red Cross said the toll was expected to rise.

The center of the destruction was in Peru’s southern desert, in the oasis city of Ica and the nearby port of Pisco, about 125 miles southeast of the capital, Lima. Pisco’s mayor said at least 200 people were buried in the rubble of a church where they had been attending a service.

In Ica, a city of 120,000 near the epicenter, a fourth of the buildings collapsed, at least 57 bodies were brought to the morgue and injured parents and children crowded into a hospital where they waited for attention on cots. Several Ica churches also were damaged, including the historic Senor de Luren church. Cable news station Canal N said 17 people were killed inside one.

The earthquake’s magnitude was raised from 7.9 to 8 on Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey. At least 15 aftershocks followed, some as strong as magnitude-6.3.

The scope of the destruction became more evident as the frigid dawn broke, revealing thick stone and masonry walls in piles around the region. The quake knocked out telephone and mobile phone service between the capital and the disaster zone. Electricity also was cut, with power lines drooping dangerously into the streets.

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