At least 330 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured after the largest earthquake in more than three decades hit Peru on Wednesday, BBC reported.

The 7.9-strong temblor hit about 145 kilometres south- southeast of the country's capital city of Lima, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The death toll is claimed the highest in the southern coastal town of Ica, where buildings and a church collapsed.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated and chose to camp out on public squares rather than risk facing the aftershocks inside their homes. The government was forced to declare a state of emergency over the disaster.

The shock set off tsunami signals and advisories for Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras and Hawaii, which were later cancelled.

The quake was also felt in Colombia's capital, Bogota and in Coquimbo, Chile, about 2,000 kilometres from Lima. There were no immediate reports of injuries or property damage, officials reported.

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