Panama earthquakes damage buildings as authorities lift tsunami alerts

Panama was struck by a major earthquake and a second powerful quake on Friday, 9 October, near its southern coast. Buildings were damaged, several people were injured and residents evacuated; authorities lifted tsunami alerts issued for parts of the Pacific coast. Officials were still assessing the damage on Friday evening.

The US Geological Survey's estimate for the main quake changed from magnitude 8.0 to 7.6 and then 7.7, according to the Associated Press account and its cited earthquake record. The quake struck near Pitaloza Arriba, a remote community in Herrera province, at a depth of about 10 kilometres. AP also reported a second magnitude 6.6 earthquake and multiple aftershocks.

Where was damage reported in Panama?

Omar Smith of Panama's National Civil Protection Service told local broadcaster Telemetro Reporta that damage reports were concentrated in Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos provinces. He said no damage had been reported in Panama City, although buildings shook there and workers evacuated. Residents in the capital gathered outside while awaiting news of the quake's impact.

Smith said several people had been injured, including one struck by debris from a partly collapsed structure in Penonomé. He described a partial collapse and cracks at the city's cathedral, as well as damage to the governor's office and the Dos Continentes hotel. Euronews reported footage showing a cathedral collapse and a hotel facade falling onto a car in Penonomé. The extent of the damage was still being assessed.

In Herrera, resident Rosendo Domínguez told AP that shaking knocked items over in his kitchen. He said his family was safe but frightened. The University of Panama's seismologists recorded more than 45 aftershocks, some too weak to be felt, AP reported. Among the reported aftershocks were tremors measuring 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2.

President José Raúl Mulino said authorities had not documented any deaths by Friday evening and warned that the situation could change in the following hours or days, AP reported. That was a preliminary account while officials continued to check affected areas; it did not establish a final casualty figure.

What happened to the tsunami alerts?

The quakes prompted a tsunami warning for coastal areas of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala. AP reported that the National Weather Service later lifted that warning, along with alerts for El Salvador and Chile's Easter Island. A NOAA tsunami centre informational message issued at 20:32 UTC on Friday said no warning, advisory, watch or threat was in effect for its covered Pacific region.

The lifting of alerts followed reports of effects along Panama's coast. Néstor Luque, director of the University of Panama's Geosciences Institute, said waves of 3 to 10 feet were expected around Isla Cañas and the southern coast of Los Santos. He also said seawater had reached homes near the coast on Isla Cañas, according to AP. The reported local impact and the later alert status describe different stages of the event.

How were transport and canal operations affected?

Tocumen International Airport temporarily suspended operations after the first quake and said on Friday afternoon that it was reopening, AP reported. The Panama Canal Authority said canal operations continued normally while technical teams inspected facilities for damage, with the safety of employees, vessels and crews a priority. Those inspections were part of the continuing assessment of the quake's effects.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was monitoring the situation and mobilising resources and personnel at Panama's request, according to AP. Regional leaders also offered support. Panama's immediate task remained establishing the full extent of injuries, structural damage and disruption in the affected provinces.

Panama lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquake activity is common. AP linked its seismic activity to interactions among the Cocos, Nazca and Caribbean tectonic plates. As a precedent for the scale of possible disruption, AP cited a magnitude 7.4 earthquake centred in neighbouring Costa Rica in 1991 that killed 23 people, injured 559 and left thousands homeless in Panama's Bocas del Toro province. That earlier toll is historical context, not an estimate of casualties from Friday's quakes.