At over two minutes, it was certainly the longest earthquake in Peru in recent memory. And with a magnitude of 7.9, it was also one of the most powerful.

At 6:40 p.m. local time on Wednesday evening, the capital Lima was badly shaken and at least 115 people were killed in cities further south, the country's Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said on Thursday. The nation's civil defense agency, which is leading the rescue efforts, said however that the official number has climbed to 337 dead and 827 injured.

President Alan Garcia declared an emergency zone in the Ica region, some 265 kilometers south of Lima, with four heavy aftershocks shaking the region. Hundreds of homes collapsed, as did a church in the city of Ica, killing 17 people attending a service inside and injuring 70 more.

"This is the strongest earthquake I've ever felt," Maria Pilar Mena, a sandwich vendor in Lima, told AP. "When the quake struck, I thought it would never end."

Rescuers and medical workers struggled to get to Ica, a city of 650,000 people, as many sections of the coastal highway were impassable. There were also radio reports of thieves attacking stranded travelers. Communication was also hampered by power outages and cell phone disruptions in Ica as well as in Lima. The US Geological Survey reported that the epicenter was 145 kilometers southeast of Lima at a depth of some 40 kilometers.