Caritas Peru says non-perishable food, clean water, tents, and medicines are the most pressing needs after a powerful earthquake ravaged much of central Peru early Wednesday evening.

The quake, measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, has claimed more than 500 lives, injured some 1,500 people, and left tens of thousands homeless. It is feared that the death toll will rise as rescue teams continue sifting through the rubble nearly three days after the disaster.

Caritas Peru has been working with the local church and diocesan Caritas in the hard hit coastal department of Ica, south of the nation's capital, Lima, to assess damages and coordinate relief efforts.

The cities of Pisco, Ica, Cañete, and Chincha are among the worst affected. Almost three-quarters of the homes and buildings in Pisco alone, a coastal city of 130,000, were levelled by the quake and aftershocks.

Caritas Peru is currently focused on meeting the immediate needs of some 10,000 affected families. "We have set up feeding centres in the parishes in the department of Ica," said Jorge LaFosse, director of Caritas Peru.

"Water is absolutely critical, especially since many areas are without electricity, and water purification systems are down."

In addition to food and water, materials for temporary shelter and medicines are desperately needed.

"Local hospitals and emergency units are completely overstretched, and there is a need for medicines and blood donations," said LaFosse.

Damages to roads, particularly the Pan-American Highway, have made travel and relief efforts difficult, and telecommunication services are not working in many areas.

Caritas Peru is putting together an appeal for assistance, based on their assessments in Ica, that will be launched to the global Caritas network in the coming days.

CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, has been supporting Caritas' efforts. Francis McDonagh, CAFOD's programme manager for Peru was in Lima when the earthquake hit.

He said: "Water, electricity and phone lines all collapsed and hospitals in Pisco, Chincha and Ica are not functioning, however, the full-scale of the disaster still isn't clear. The principal areas affected are Cañete, Chincha, Pisco and Ica on the coast but we don't yet know what's happening inland.

"The Pan-American highway is cut and with mobile phone systems still down all of this is making it extremely difficult to get supplies through.

CAFOD partners CEAS and Caritas Peru are at the forefront of an emergency response to set up lines of communication with the affected areas and find out the exact needs of those people without homes and sanitation, added McDonagh.

"Water, food, clothes, medicine and tents are a priority. This is one of the coldest winters on record in Peru and we need to reach these people quickly. Caritas Peru have years of experience in disaster response and CAFOD will do everything it can to support this work in such difficult conditions," he said.

"It's less than 48 hours since the earthquake when the land rolled beneath us here in Lima and we are gradually realising the scale of the disaster. It's much worse than we thought. It's a national tragedy for Peru."

Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations working in 200 countries and territories.