Magnitude 7.7 earthquake hits Panama: collapses but no victims

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck southern Panama on Friday, with its epicenter in the province of Herrera-Veraguas, near the town of Tonosí. The quake caused the collapse of several buildings, including the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in Penonomé, as well as damage to roads in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos.

In the hours following the main shock, dozens of aftershocks were recorded, including one of magnitude 6.6. Despite the magnitude of the earthquake and the extent of material damage, Panama’s Civil Protection agency reported no deaths or missing persons: several people sustained minor injuries.

Authorities issued a tsunami alert for the Central American Pacific coast, a standard precautionary measure for earthquakes of this magnitude recorded in coastal areas. The news is reported by CNN and ABC News, both citing data from the United States Geological Survey’s detection and, regarding the human toll, from Panama’s National Civil Protection System.

The affected area lies in a known zone of seismic activity, at the boundary between the Cocos and Caribbean tectonic plates, along the same Pacific belt that runs through the entire Central American isthmus. The damage to the Cathedral of Penonomé, a historic building in the region, adds to that reported on road infrastructure in the three central provinces, while rescue teams continue inspections of buildings affected by the aftershocks.

The current toll — no victims, minor injuries, widespread material damage — is the one communicated by Panama’s Civil Protection agency in the hours immediately following the earthquake. As this is an ongoing event, an update to the number of injured or the damage recorded in the coming hours would not constitute a correction of today’s figures, but the natural evolution of a count still underway.