Dead scattered in the streets of quake-ravaged Peru

ICA, Peru (CNN) -- Residents of the Peruvian city of Ica said the ground shook again early Friday as they slept outside, their homes destroyed by Wednesday's 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

A quarter of the buildings in the city of 120,000, were destroyed, The Associated Press reported, as the temblor killed at least 400 people and left 1,500 more injured across the South American nation.

Other estimates put the death toll higher, and rescue workers continued to dig through rubble, holding out hope for survivors.

In Pisco, the city's main Catholic church crumbled as the quake struck during a Mass commemorating the Assumption of Mary. Soldiers and rescue workers Thursday night looked for 20 to 30 people believed trapped.

At least 60 bodies were pulled from the rubble of the church and lined up in the city's plaza, the AP reported. As many as 200 people were in the church when it broke apart, the town's mayor told the AP.

Earlier Thursday, Peruvian President Alan Garcia arrived by helicopter in Pisco, a city of 68,000, about 160 miles southeast of the capital, Lima.

An estimated 80 percent of Pisco's homes were destroyed. Residents yelled, "Help us, help us," as Garcia passed by them.

At one point, the president saw several children wandering aimlessly.

"Oh, my God, who do these little children belong to?" he asked.

"The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets. We don't have lights, water, communications. Most houses have fallen. Churches, stores, hotels -- everything is destroyed," Pisco Mayor Juan Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN, according to the AP.

Garcia declared a state of emergency and promised the government would "ensure that regional and local governments, civil defense institutions and ministries can spend what they need to, rapidly and immediately."

The most serious damage was suffered in towns and cities along the country's Pacific coast south of Lima, including Chincha, Ica, Canete and Pisco, where about 200 deaths were reported. Watch how the quake ruined lives and turned buildings into rubble »

Ica residents said they had received no aid or even visits from government or aid officials.

The epicenter of the quake was in the Pacific Ocean about 30 miles west-northwest of Chincha, or about 90 miles south of Lima, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The capital itself, home to about 8 million people, was largely spared from damage, though the quake shook buildings and frightened residents. Two people reportedly were killed in the city.

"The ground was shaking so hard that I almost had to go to my knees to avoid falling," said Dan Brumbaugh, an American from Texas who ran from a building in Lima's financial district when the shaking started. "It was as if waves were going through the ground."

The U.S. Embassy in Lima confirmed that at least one American died in the quake, and it was trying to locate and assist other Americans, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday.

Peruvian authorities initially struggled to get relief supplies into the area because highways were damaged by the earthquake. However, a spokesman for the Peruvian Embassy in Washington said later that road links had been reopened into the quake zone, allowing supplies to flow south from Lima and north from Arequipa.

Health Minister Carlos Vallejos described Pisco as "really in crisis."

"There's aren't any buildings that are in good condition. Even the very modern buildings around the central plaza are totally destroyed," he told Andina Television. Water and electricity were out, and telephone service was "very limited," he said. See photos of the devastation »

Television stations pleaded with viewers not to use cell phones for routine communications to keep the airwaves open for emergency use.

The Peruvian Embassy spokesman, Vladimir Kocerha, said Peru likely will put out a call for international aid, "preferably monetary." The U.S. Agency for International Development offered $100,000 to meet immediate emergency needs.

Peru, like most of the South American Pacific coast, sits at the juncture of two tectonic plates, making the country prone to earthquakes. See a map of where the quake struck »

Since the quake struck Wednesday evening, the U.S. Geological Survey has detected nearly 20 aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.5 to 6.3. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Harris Whitbeck contributed to this report.

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