According to various News media, the death toll is climbing in the 8.0-magnitude quake which shook Peru on the evening of Aug. 16 2007. Survivors of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake which had struck Peru searched through rubble for family and friends on Thursday, as the death toll rose to 510. At least 1,500 people were injured. Tremors shook buildings in the capital of Lima as residents ran into the streets. But the center of the destruction was in Peru's southern desert, in the city of Ica and the nearby port of Pisco. "We don't have lights, water, communications. Most houses have fallen, churches, stores, hotels, everything is destroyed." a survivor had said. In Ica, which has a population of 120,000, one-quarter of the city's buildings collapsed. Officials said at least hundreds of bodies have already been brought to the morgue. Injured parents and children crowded into a hospital where they waited on cots to be treated. Several Roman Catholic churches in Ica had collapsed, including the historic Senor de Luren church. Seventeen people were killed inside one of the Roman Catholic churches. At least two hundred people were killed in another Roman Catholic church when the church crumbled during an evening mass. Another Roman Catholic church had crumbled, the number killed and injured is not known at this time. Ica, a city of 650,000 people, where an unknown amount of people were killed and trapped under the massive rubble. Several children were seen wandering aimlessly crying out, "Oh, my God, Oh, my God". The city of Ica is located 265 kilometers southeast of the capital, was the hardest hit by the quake. The population of Peru is mostly Roman Catholic, with a splattering of Protestant denominations scattered throughout the country. The two-minute, 8.0-magnitude quake struck Wednesday evening, and strong aftershocks followed, including a 6.0-magnitude temblor on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Rescue teams were still digging Friday through ruins of collapsed adobe homes in cities and hamlets. But Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said finding survivors seemed increasingly unlikely. As tragic this situation is, I could not help wonder where was the Christian pagan god, Je-Zeus Christ in all of this? Why had not the Christian god/gods prevent this massive earthquake from hitting Peru, which is a mostly Christian country? Where are the Christian god/gods? Are they sleeping? Have they gone on a vacation, or do they really exist? These are some of the questions the Peruvian people will be asking themselves.