7.7-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Southern Panama, Damages Buildings, No Deaths Reported

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck southern Panama at 12:56 p.m. local time on Friday, 9 October 2026. The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicentre about 10.8 km west-southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera Province, at a depth of roughly 12.6 km. A second strong aftershock of magnitude 6.6 followed later in the day. More than 40 aftershocks were recorded.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami threat for coasts of Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. The alert was lifted within hours after no significant waves materialised. Panama’s National Civil Protection Service reported structural damage concentrated in Herrera, Veraguas and Los Santos provinces. In Penonomé, Coclé Province, the bell tower of the San Juan Bautista Cathedral collapsed. The governor’s palace and a hotel sustained damage. In the resort area of Playa Venao a multi-storey building collapsed onto cars. Power outages affected six provinces. Tocumen International Airport briefly suspended flights before resuming.

President José Raúl Mulino said authorities had not documented fatalities or serious injuries as of Friday evening, though he cautioned that assessments were continuing. Some minor injuries were treated. Residents evacuated buildings in Panama City, where shaking was felt more than 100 km from the epicentre. The Panama Canal reported normal operations throughout. The Cobre Panama copper mine also continued without interruption.

The USGS estimated that about 43,000 people lived in areas of severe exposure. Economic losses could reach 1 to 10 percent of Panama’s GDP, according to the same assessment. Major earthquakes are rare in the country. The shallow depth and proximity to populated coastal zones produced visible damage to older masonry structures, including the cathedral in Penonomé, while modern infrastructure such as the canal and major mines remained functional.

Civil protection teams continued inspections on Saturday. Aftershocks continued at lower magnitudes. Residents in affected provinces remained outside damaged homes overnight. The absence of reported deaths distinguishes this event from several recent large quakes in the region, yet the damage to churches, government buildings and residential structures will require months of repair. The brief tsunami alert, though lifted quickly, illustrated the procedural response that follows any large shallow quake on the Pacific margin.

The event adds to a sequence of significant seismic activity across the Americas in 2026. For Panama the immediate priority is damage assessment in the central provinces and the restoration of power and transport links that were disrupted for hours on Friday. The canal’s uninterrupted operation limited the wider economic spillover that a longer closure would have produced.