Peru: Online Earthquake Coverage · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Photo of cracked highway taken by Alberto Arévalo and used under Creative Commons license.
The death toll for the earthquake in Peru has now ascended to 337 in Ica.  The number of wounded stands at 827.  This number had not yet been published in the Lima newspaper, El Comercio or RPP, at the time of this article.  However, with the assistance of the blog World Wide Help, the number has been confirmed.  They received internal reports from Indeci and UNDAC/OCHA (a United Nations agency).  An earlier report from WWH said, “Peru Quake: Update – 37 dead, 300 injured“.
The Los Angeles Times reports an approximate count: 330 dead as 7.9 quake rocks Peru.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake shook southern Peru on Wednesday, killing at least 330 people and injuring more than 1,000 others in the cities of Ica and Pisco and sparking tsunami warnings for the Pacific coast of South America and the distant Hawaiian Islands
Wikipedia already has an article about the event: 2007 Peru Earthquake, as well as WikiNews, which has information about the quake: Several earthquakes strike Peru; Tsunami warnings issued.
The site Now Public has also been reporting the news: Massive 7.9 Earthquake : Lima, Peru, in which some of the comments are some translations from the blog of the newspaper El Comercio from eyewitness accounts . The newspaper La República published an online special that complied news about the earthquake.
Blogs have also played an important part in informing about details and diverse experiences about the event.
Some recount their experiences precisely when the earthquake struck. Estalla Mi Alma [ES] posts some of the video that she took of the traffic chaos caused by the earthquake.  Niña Goya [ES] was quite shaken:
Estaba con un amigo tomando frapuccino en Starbucks, de pronto empezo a temblar todo, pense que el local se caía, todos salieron corriendo, olvide mi cartera, deje mi postre a la mitad, los postes se tambaleaban, se fue la luz y regreso al toque, todo se mecía, todo se volvió un caos (es que todos chaparon sus cañas, no saben q es mejor no manejar cuando pasa algo asi!!!!!!!!!), empezo a temblarme las rodillas y las manos, por un momento quise llorar (es que solo pensaba en mis bebes)….que tal susto el que pasó medio Peru esta noche.
I was with a friend drinking a frapuccino in Starbucks, when all of a sudden everything began to shake.  I thought the store would fall on top of us, and everyone left running.  I forgot my purse, left my dessert halfway eaten, the posts trembled, and the lights went out.  They came back on shortly after, everything was in chaos (everyone was scared and they don't know that it is best not to drive when something like this happens!!!).  My knees and hands began to shake, and I almost wanted to cry (when I thought about my babies)…what a scare that half of Peru went through that night.
MiGeo [ES] is a blog written by Miguel A. Vera León, a geology student in Lima.  He warns his readers to take internet warnings with a grain of salt.
Recomiendo tener cuidado con avisos a través de correo electrónico o servicios de mensajería afirmando que ocurrirán réplicas iguales al sismo. Esto es falso. Si bien es cierto que pueden ocurrir réplicas, es muy raro que tengan la misma magnitud que el sismo original. Cabe señalar además que no es posible predecir un sismo, por lo que quien quiera que esté inventando estas supuestas noticias sólo está tratando de alarmar sin sentido alguno.
I recommend that you are careful with warnings that arrive in email or SMS saying that aftershocks with the same magnitude of the earthquake will happen.  This is false.  It is true that aftershocks can take place, but it s rare that they are of the same magnitude of the original earthquake. It is also important to note that it is not possible to predice an earthquake, and the people who are making this news up is only trying to alarm the people needlessly.
In addition,  El Blog de Morsa [ES] provides information on ways to help those most affected in the city of Ica by providing websites, telephone numbers and email addresses for those interested.  Pospost [ES] writes about the destruction in the city of Pisco, and includes videos from television coverage.  In addition, X-Blog [ES] writes about the reaction of President Alan Garcia and his comment regarding the crash of the telephone system.
Images have also found its way onto Flickr in the account of Alberto Arevalo and Christian Vinces.  Videos from television coverage can be found at Daily Motion and YouTube.  However, a user-taken video by jesus862 shows worried individuals running out from stores and affirming that it was in fact, an earthquake.
For more links to posts about the Peruvian earthquake, visit Globalizado and the article, “Earthquake in Peru: 337 Dead and 827 Injured.”
Eduardo Avila also contributed to this article.