People try to make phone calls in Lima following a strong earthquake, 15 August. Coastal Peru and the country's capital Lima were rocked late Wednesday by a strong and prolonged earthquake that the US Geological Survey measure at 7.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. [Photo: AFP]

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The death toll from the powerful earthquake that hit Peru's southern coast on Wednesday evening has risen to 510 and the number of injuries to 1,610, the Peruvian Fire Department said Thursday.

Beside the massive casualties, the magnitude-7.9 quake has affected 80,000 others and made 16,600 families homeless, according to a communique released earlier by Peru's civil defense agency.

Nine highways in southern Peru have also been damaged to different degrees.

To minimize the aftermath of the disaster, the Peruvian government is hectically organizing disaster relief and rescue work. President Alan Garcia inspected quake-stricken areas on Thursday and called on the international community to offer help to the quake victims.

On the same day, a Bolivian air force plane loaded with 11 tons of aid materials arrived in the hardest-hit city of Pisco, about 200 km southeast of Lima.