PANAMA CITY — A pair of powerful earthquakes struck southern Panama on Friday afternoon, sending shockwaves across the nation and triggering a massive emergency response as residents fled buildings and coastal areas.
The first quake, measured at a magnitude of 7.7, struck at 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep, with its epicenter located about 10 kilometers southwest of Pitaloza Arriba in the central province of Herrera. A second, 6.6 magnitude quake followed shortly after, accompanied by more than 45 aftershocks—including several in the 5.0 magnitude range—that continued to rattle the region throughout the evening.
In Panama City, the capital, the tremors were felt so strongly that office workers and residents abandoned skyscrapers and homes, gathering in streets and public squares. While the capital remained largely intact, damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera, and Los Santos.
Omar Smith of the National Civil Protection Service reported that while there were no immediate reports of mass casualties, injuries had been confirmed. In the city of Penonomé, one person was injured by falling debris. Structural damage was reported at the district’s cathedral, the governor’s office, and the Dos Continentes hotel. In Los Santos, the historic Church of San Atanasio, a national heritage site, suffered a significant collapse. Large fissures were also observed slicing through roadways in Veraguas.
President José Raúl Mulino urged citizens to remain calm while cautioning that the situation remains fluid. “Nobody was ready, and no one is ever ready for this type of disaster,” he said during a televised address.
Panama’s critical infrastructure saw mixed impacts. Tocumen International Airport, a major regional hub, briefly suspended operations but resumed service by Friday afternoon. The Panama Canal Authority confirmed that the global trade route was operating normally, though specialized teams were deployed to inspect the facilities as a precautionary measure.
The earthquakes triggered regional alarm, with tsunami warnings issued for the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, and stretching as far as Chile’s Easter Island. Though the National Weather Service later lifted the warnings, Néstor Luque of the University of Panama’s Geosciences Institute confirmed that seawater had reached homes on Isla Cañas, citing wave heights of up to 10 feet in the immediate vicinity.
The regional vulnerability to seismic activity has been a point of mounting concern; the quakes come on the heels of a series of devastating events across Latin America in recent months, including major disasters in Venezuela and Colombia.
International leaders were quick to offer aid. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the U.S. is “rapidly mobilizing resources and personnel to assist” at the request of the Panamanian government. Offers of support also arrived from leaders in Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, and Costa Rica, underscoring the solidarity of a region frequently tested by its position along the volatile “Ring of Fire.”
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