Rescuers gave up hope of finding any more survivors and concentrated Monday on clearing tons of rubble from the streets of Pisco, a southern port city destroyed by a powerful earthquake last week that killed at least 540 people. The 8.0 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday destroyed more than 85 percent of the homes in Pisco, a fishing port 200 kilometers southeast of Lima that was the hardest hit city. Rescuers have removed 148 bodies from a church in the city after its domed ceiling broke apart during the earthquake. It was not clear how many of the 300 people inside survived the two-minute earthquake. Meanwhile, homeless victims of the earthquake lined up for hours on Monday for food, water, and blankets as President Alan Garcia struggled to solve logistical problems in the disaster zone. Five days after the earthquake, tens of thousands of Peruvians have no place to sleep and are complaining of neglect. Tons of foreign aid has arrived in Lima, but a damaged highway and what critics say is poor organization have prevented supplies from reaching victims in towns along the Pacific coast. Aid groups said Peru's government should have been better prepared. Towns did not have basic equipment like back-up generators to keep water flowing, telephones working, and hospitals open Many survivors left the area in buses and trucks over the weekend, but tens of thousands still in the area are completely reliant on government aid. The government said it was preparing plans to rebuild Pisco, where 34,000 homes were destroyed. “I am traveling with the head of the Civil Defense to Pisco to begin the clean-up,” Garcia said early Monday in Lima after he returned from heading rescue operations in Pisco for the past four days. The president told a news conference in Pisco on Sunday that the government would provide small two-bedroom houses for survivors who lost their homes. He also said 1,200 soldiers had restored calm to the streets where days earlier, hungry earthquake victims looted aid trucks and markets.
