Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Panama, shaking 4.6 million people

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck south-central Panama on Friday, damaging buildings and causing widespread shaking, with an epicentre about 10km from the town of Pitaloza Arriba. The quake hit just before 15:00 local time (18:00 GMT) at a depth of 12km, according to the US Geological Survey, which said about 4.6 million people felt moderate to severe tremors.bbc.co.uk+1

The earthquake matters because it struck a country where quakes of this magnitude are rare, and because the shallow depth — 12km — makes severe surface effects more likely. The shallower an earthquake, the more strongly its energy reaches buildings and people above. The US Geological Survey said the effects of the quake were "likely to be widespread", and damage was reported across several central provinces within hours.

Shallow quake hit south-central Panama

The earthquake's epicentre lay close to the rural community of La Pitaloza, in a sparsely populated area of Herrera province near the Pacific coastline, according to the US Geological Survey. Footage shared online appeared to show collapsed buildings in the towns of Penonomé and Soná, including one side of a cathedral in Penonomé and one of its spires. Verified footage also showed a local hotel had almost completely collapsed.

Damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos, Omar Smith of the National Civil Protection Service said on the Telemetro Reporta news channel. He said there were no reports of damage in Panama City, the capital, which is known for its hundreds of skyscrapers. In the capital, about 200km from the epicentre, damage appeared limited to debris falling from roofs, and many people were evacuated into streets and parks.

A second powerful magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck about two and a half hours after the first, with its epicentre about 8 miles west of Río Grande on Panama's Pacific coast and a depth of about 6 miles, the US Geological Survey said. Several large aftershocks were also reported near the initial earthquake, potentially complicating the situation on the surface. No casualties had so far been reported.

Damage concentrated in three provinces

Ricardo Brown, 74, who lives in the Las Minas area of Herrera province, said the earthquake had damaged several homes in his neighbourhood. "We're scared. It's just the two of us old folks here. The house has cracked and we're afraid it could fall on us," he said. Rosendo Domínguez, 60, also from Herrera, told The Associated Press by phone: "We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen."

Tsunami warnings were initially issued for 11 countries neighbouring Panama, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, with a threat also noted for Hawaii and an alert issued by Chile's navy. The US Tsunami Warning System later confirmed there was no threat, and said no tsunami warning, advisory, watch or threat had been issued.

The Panama Canal, a vital waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, was unaffected, the authority that oversees marine traffic through it said. The Panama Canal Authority said the canal was operating normally while technical teams inspected facilities, and that ships were passing through without interruption. About 90 vessels, including bulk carriers, tankers and container ships, were waiting at both ends of the canal, according to monitoring data from LSEG's Workspace.jpost.com

Tsunami warnings lifted, canal unaffected

Panama's President José Raúl Mulino said his entire government was mobilising in response, adding: "What happened should not be used to cause alarm or disorder." The ministry of education ordered schools closed nationwide, and service on two lines of the Panama City Metro was temporarily suspended for safety reasons, the operator said. Panama Airport was closed as a precaution, and the Naturgy power company reported electricity supply disruptions across six provinces.

The quake is at least the fourth in Latin America this year surpassing 7.0 in magnitude, after earthquakes in Venezuela's Guaira in June and western Colombia in August. Panama lies along the Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin where most of the world's earthquakes occur. The full extent of the damage is not yet clear.

Panama is set to hold a national evacuation drill next Monday to test the country's earthquake response, three days after the quake struck. The drill was already scheduled before the earthquake. Chile's navy also issued a tsunami alert following the quake, which was felt as far as San José, the capital of neighbouring Costa Rica, according to a Reuters witness.