LIMA, PERU — A magnitude 7.9 earthquake shook southern Peru on Wednesday, killing at least 48 people and injuring 350 others in the cities of Ica and Pisco and sparking tsunami warnings for the Pacific coast of South America and the distant Hawaiian Islands.
Peruvian media reported that several people were killed when the bell tower of an 18th century church toppled in Ica, about 150 miles south of Lima. Dozens more were injured when hospital buildings collapsed and power lines fell in Ica, leaving the city of 200,000 in darkness as emergency workers searched for victims.
Many buildings were damaged in Pisco and in Chincha Alta, near the earthquake's epicenter just off the Peruvian coast about 100 miles south of Lima.
The death toll rose throughout the evening.
"We have the figure of 48 dead and 350 injured," Carlos Cordova, chief of Peru's fire department, told Channel 5 television.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, which struck at 6:41 p.m. local time, occurred on a historically active thrust fault about 25 miles below the Earth's surface. Two aftershocks measuring 5.9 and 5.8 on the Richter scale struck less than 30 minutes later.
Officials said the quake generated a 10-inch wave that quickly dissipated along the coast. Tsunami alerts were canceled in South and Central America, but an advisory remained in effect for Hawaii late Wednesday.
Peruvian authorities ordered the evacuation of several seaside communities, including one near Callao, the country's largest port, where at least 70 buildings were damaged and dozens of people injured as structures collapsed, according to Gen. David Salazar, commander of the national police. Colombia's southernmost port, Tumaco, also was ordered evacuated.
In the port city of Pisco, residents fled to higher ground even as authorities issued reports that the region was not in danger of being hit by tidal waves.
"We ask for calm," President Alan Garcia said in a nationally televised address as he declared a state of emergency in Ica and the surrounding region. With repeated aftershocks striking the region, he said, Peruvians should leave coastal areas "as a precaution. . . without panic."
Lima media broadcast calls from coastal residents worried about tidal waves. Fishermen called in to Radio Programas del Peru saying the ocean looked "strange."
