By Ayomide Otitoju
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Panama on Friday, damaging buildings and roads and injuring at least 27 people, with no fatalities reported, according to the country’s National Civil Protection System.
The shallow tremor was felt across the Central American country, which has a population of about 4.5 million, prompting residents to evacuate buildings and raising concerns about further damage from aftershocks.
The head of emergency operations, Rene Garcia, told AFP that there had been no reports of deaths as of Friday.
In Panama City, about 200 kilometres from the epicentre, residents fled high-rise buildings as the tremor shook structures across the capital.
“I was scared because the shaking was very strong and prolonged,” 46-year-old Salomon Andion told AFP after evacuating his 15-storey building for the second time following aftershocks.
“Heavy objects like dressers, the bed, and all the kitchen items were shaking,” he said.
Videos shared on social media showed water spilling from a rooftop swimming pool on a building more than 20 storeys tall. Another video showed a bridge over the Panama Canal shaking violently while remaining upright as vehicles crossed it.
President Jose Raul Mulino described the situation as a major disaster, saying some roads had “completely collapsed”.
“It was horrible, like nothing we ever experienced. My daughter was trapped in school,” said Juana Alveo, a 38-year-old cashier in Penonome, in the central province of Cocle.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake struck at 12:56 p.m. local time, with its epicentre about 10 kilometres from the town of Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera province. The agency initially measured the quake at magnitude 8.0 before revising it to 7.7.
A tsunami warning was issued for the eastern Pacific Ocean but was later lifted.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington was closely monitoring the situation and rapidly mobilising resources and personnel to assist at the request of the Panamanian government.
The Panama Canal Authority said shipping through the waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, remained unaffected and was operating normally.
Mulino travelled to Penonome to coordinate the emergency response, while Health Minister Fernando Boyd identified Herrera, Cocle and Los Santos as the worst-affected provinces.
Boyd said the town of Tonosi, in Los Santos province, had been completely cut off by damaged roads.
“We are trying to figure out how to get there by air, because it’s impossible by land,” he said.
Panama City’s international airport was temporarily closed, forcing several flights to divert to other airports as a precaution, according to the Civil Aeronautics Authority.
The presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala expressed solidarity with Panama and offered assistance.
Residents in affected communities reported extensive damage and fear of further tremors. Benjamin Gonzalez, 52, said he returned to his home near La Miel to find many houses damaged and residents gathered in a town square without electricity.
His neighbour, David Castillo, told AFP that some residents were reluctant to return home because they feared another earthquake.
Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli also shared photographs of his collapsed house in Sona, Veraguas province. Images circulated by local media showed extensive damage to a church and a hotel in Penonome.
Panama’s geosciences institute recorded more than 80 aftershocks, including one measuring above magnitude 6.0.
Mulino urged residents to remain calm, warning against using the disaster to create panic and disorder. He said he had requested a report on the damage.
The Ministry of Education announced the suspension of classes in schools nationwide as authorities assessed the impact of the earthquake.
Earthquakes of this magnitude are relatively uncommon in Panama, where seismic activity is more frequently associated with the western province of Chiriqui, near the Costa Rican border.
