State of Emergency

President Garcia thanked God that the earthquake had not caused "a catastrophe with an immense number of victims".

In 1970, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake high in the Peruvian Andes triggered a landslide that buried the town of Yungay and killed 66,000 people.

"We have declared a state of emergency in Ica province and we are going this evening to ensure that regional and local governments, civil defence institutions and ministries can spend what they need to, rapidly and immediately," Mr Garcia said.

The president ordered police onto the streets of Lima to keep order, and schools are being closed because the buildings may be unsafe.

In Lima's poorer suburbs and shanty towns, news of the damage is still coming in, reports the BBC's Dan Collyns. However, he says the feeling in the city, where one third of the population lives, is that it may have narrowly avoided a major disaster.