As rescuers search for victims of a 8.0-magnitude quake that rocked Peru on Wednesday, witnesses to the disaster have filed reports to MSNBC.com. Here are their accounts:

Phones went dead

Well, to tell you the truth it was quite different than anything I have ever experienced. I am here in Lima, Peru staying with my fiance and her family and yesterday was my second day here. I am from a small town in Greybull, WY and I have never felt a quake before so this was amazing. I was sitting in the living room playing Nintendo Wii with my fiances little sister and suddenly her mom came running out of her room telling us "temblor temblor" which of course means earthquake. Their house is on the second floor therfore we could not move and just gathered under the front door to help protect us from anything. The shaking was constant for about 2 min. At first I sat on the couch unsure of what to do then joined them under the door. Things started falling off the shelves and the house began to sway back and foreth, but luck for us nothing broke and no one was hurt from our party. Like all problems as soon as the quake passed, everyone tried to figure out if the rest of the family was ok. Luckily my fiance arrived to the house right after it passed, because she had gone out earlier to practice for her driving test, but her father and sister we didn't know. Then other problems started. The phones stopped working and people were unable to communicate at all, so everyone was really worried, especially for my fiances sister, who works at the bank and was on the 15h floor when the quake occured. However in the end everything passed for us ok. We feel terrible for those who are hurt, lost and that have passed on, but thank God that many are ok. For me it was amazing the feeling of such a quake. I felt as if I was standing on a swaying board that I had no control over. It was one of the strangest feelings I have ever had. --Jared Collingwood, Lima (submitted on Aug. 16, 2007)

Submitted by Jennifer Cabrera / FirstPerson This is my house after the earthquake. I live at Pueblo Libre in Lima. My aparment is on the 9 floor and this are things that fall down during the disaster ...was too long.

Screaming and crying

We were huddled in an Artisan fair in Miraflores with two minutes of heavy lateral movements and screaming and crying people. It was at least two quakes of swaying and we watched the buildings move like cards. It was quite strong..almost fell to the ground....bigger and longer duration than I have sensed in California....death toll must be big but we shall wait to the light of day.The internet has returned and we have lights. We were fortunate. The people of Peru are strong. Bonnie Klein, Lynn Pesetti, and Bonnie Ross of Southern Califonria are fine. We hope for the Best for the people 50 miles south of Lima. John Ortman --John Ortman, CA (submitted on Aug. 16, 2007)

Cars shaking

My name is Marylin. I'm a resident from the USA. This is the first time i experienced an earthquake. I was leaving "Parque de la Amistad" when i saw a sign from the park moving. I thought it was the wind but then suddenly the cars wer shaking and the alarm went off. Then i knew it was an earthquake. Someone screamed "terremoto" then we began to panic. Everyone around was crying and running like crazy. There was a lady that cried hysterically because she had left her 9-year old son alone locked up in her house. There was also a lady who was about to have a heart attack because she believed she was going to die. Then behind us we found a group of people praying wishing gor the quake to settle down. When it finally stopped we began walking and next to the park was a Church. We prayed and thanked God that it settled. Later on when we were home, we got together with my mother and she told us how windows broke in the cities in La Avenida San Juan. Then we felt the aftershock and it was pretty strong so we went under the door frame. --Marylin Orejuela, Lima (submitted on Aug. 16, 2007)

A teremoto!

This was not a tremor (temblor). This was a teremoto! We get tremors here in Lima all the time and we wait for them to pass. I was at Starbucks when the tremors started I thought it will pass but then the floor began to move a lot and I thought I better go outside. The ground was moving in waves, like rippling. We stood there in the parking lot while all the cars we're moving and people we're running out of buildings, scared and calling on their cell phones. When I arrived home my guard was crying, our mirror was shattered all over the floor, and all the people we're sitting outside our building huddled together in blankets. All night long we had aftershocks...many couldn't sleep. Lima didn't have the devastation that they experienced down south although we did have some structural damage. We have some broken up streets and the power is out in some areas. There are some older homes that need repairs. There are teams going south to help people reconstruct their homes and help with the wounded. People are coming together from local churches to help. --Veronica Hrabak (submitted on Aug. 16, 2007)

Homes waving

I live in Lima, 170 km at the north from the epicentre of the quake. I felt this has been one of the most dangerous quakes in the last 30 years in Peru. Concrete made homes in Lima were waving like toys and cars were jumping up and down over their parking places like balls. In the sky appeared like hug flashes in red and white colors all over around. The electric power and phones were in a complete out of service. No way to comunicate each other. Internet was one of the most important and efficient media to keep informed and to know about some relatives. Now we see there are near to 400 deads and thousands of persons left homeless. --Ivan Arevalo (submitted on Aug. 16, 2007)

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