[A powerful earthquake shook southern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 31 people and sending dozens of homes, churches and buildings tumbling to the ground. Read photo caption below].


AREQUIPA (Reuters) - At least 25 people were reported to have been killed on Saturday when a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 rocked southern Peru, civil defense officials and reporters in the affected areas said.
``Fourteen people are believed dead in Moquegua,'' Juan Luis Podesta, head of the national civil defense agency, told Canal N cable television.
The agency told Reuters no overall official death toll was yet available, but one official added: ``It's going up minute by minute.''
Moquegua, a small town with cobbled streets where most of the houses are made from mud adobe, is some 856 miles south of Lima, near the Chilean border.
The quake -- one of the strongest worldwide in recent years -- struck at 4:33 p.m. EDT. Its epicenter was 51 miles northwest of the southern town of Ocona, Peru's Geophysical Institute said.
``There is an enormous quantity of injured and the dead are literally thrown about on the ground,'' an RPP reporter in Moquegua said, filing by satellite phone. He put the death toll there as high as 25 but CPN radio quoted hospital officials as saying there were 12 confirmed dead in Moquegua.
According to local residents, a landslide had blocked one of the town's chief roads and many houses had collapsed. ``We have nowhere to escape to,'' one man told RPP. Many residents were in the streets, preparing to spend the night outside in parks and other areas seen as secure, the radio said.
Peruvian officials said the earthquake measured six on the Richter scale but the U.S. Geological Survey reported it as magnitude 7.9.
The USGS said it struck Peru's Pacific coast some 375 miles southeast of Lima and 120 miles west of Arequipa, Peru's second city.
Tearful Peruvians phoned in to radio stations frantic for news of their family members in the affected areas.
STATE OF EMERGENCY IN PERU'S SECOND CITY
Red Cross officials confirmed two children had died in the city of Arequipa, Peru's second city, some 630 miles south of Lima, and police said 168 may be injured there.
Red Cross officials in Arequipa confirmed the death of two children. No further details were immediately available.
A civil defense spokesman said other people were also reported dead but there was no official confirmation.
Some 30 percent of the historic buildings had been damaged in Arequipa, known as Peru's ``white city'' because of its fine colonial architecture and churches.
Arequipa's mayor, Juan Manuel Guillen, said a state of emergency had been declared. The quake cut off electricity supplies, plunging the city into darkness, but power was restored by around 7 p.m. EDT.
``The city is paralyzed,'' a Reuters reporter in Arequipa said.
Interim President Valentin Paniagua was expected to visit the affected area on Sunday.
``This earthquake may have caused substantial damage and casualties due to its location and size,'' the U.S. National Earthquake Center in Golden, Colorado, said in its Web site.
Television pictures showed that one of the towers of Arequipa cathedral had collapsed, scattering rubble in the street, and another was damaged and could fall.
``We don't know how many people are trapped,'' a Red Cross official told Canal N cable television from the main square in Arequipa, where dozens of people were gathered.
Canal N said the quake lasted 40 seconds.
Media reports said the quake was felt in Lima, where it measured two on the Richter scale, and in Chile and Bolivia.
Alex Kouri, the mayor of Callao -- site of Peru's biggest port -- said there was no danger of a tidal wave striking coastal areas, although worried residents were already out in the streets.
``Despite speculation about a possible tsunami, this has been ruled out,'' he told CPN radio.
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PHOTO CAPTION

A man climbs a ladder to reach his damaged home in Arequipa 465 miles (750 Kilometers) of Lima, Peru Saturday, June 23, 2001 in this image from television. A powerful earthquake shook southern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 31 people and sending dozens of homes, churches and buildings tumbling to the ground, officials said. (AP Photo/Channel N)
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