Relief officials urgently appealed for more aid Thursday for survivors of a magnitude-8 earthquake that shattered cities along Peru's southern coast, saying people still badly need blankets, tents and medical help, according to The Associated Press. Survivors are living on the streets in cardboard shelters under desperate, unhygienic conditions, two weeks after the quake struck, said Doctors Without Borders spokesman Francois Dumont, speaking from the village of Guadeloupe. «We found the town completely destroyed,» Dumont told The Associated Press by telephone. «In makeshift shelters made of cardboard and bed sheets in front of their destroyed houses, families are living in cold and unhygienic conditions. They have no latrines, no drinking water and no real space to bathe.» Even things like soap are needed to prevent the spread of skin diseases, he said. «It's like one day after the quake,» he said. The international aid group has a 35-member team in the area with mobile clinics, and it offers psychological counseling. The earthquake that struck near Peru's central coast on Aug. 15 killed at least 519 people, injured 1,366 and destroyed 40,000 homes, leveling the port of Pisco, a fishing city 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Lima, according to Peru's Civil Defense Office. The death toll doesn't include at least 40 other people who are missing, the office's director of prevention, Alberto Visual, said Wednesday. Earlier, the United Nations asked for donations of US$37 million (¤27 million) for medical help, water, food, tents and blankets for survivors of the quake. Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N.'s humanitarian affairs office, said 200,000 people need help to save their lives. Mar Mora, an adviser to the U.N. World Food Program, described a dire situation in the town of Cabeza del Toro. «All the houses are completely down, many of them broken, or many of them have disappeared. There are problems with water as well,» Mora said. «They have not received absolutely anything until now and they are requesting medical services, tents, food, and special assistance for children.»
