7.6 magnitude earthquake hits Panama

A powerful earthquake of 7.7 magnitude struck the Central American country of Panama on Friday. It damaged houses, disrupted power supply in six provinces and halted flights. People came out of their homes and offices out of fear and onto the streets.

American Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at a depth of 12.6 km. More than 40 aftershocks were felt after this. So far, no deaths, injuries or massive damage have been confirmed. However, officials are assessing the damage in several provinces.

people took to the streets in fear

The tremors of the earthquake were felt all over the country. In many places, the earth shook for a long time. Television footage showed elderly people crying in the streets, while the aftershock caused fear among people. People in Herrera province feared that damaged buildings could collapse.

power outages in six provinces, airport and metro services affected

According to the power company Nature, power supply was disrupted in six provinces. Flights were halted after the earthquake at Tokmen International Airport, the region's main aviation hub.

In the capital Panama City, offices gave employees early leave due to fears of safety and possible damage to buildings. This increased traffic pressure on the roads. Metro service was also halted and schools in the capital sent students home early. Classes were suspended across the country.

Despite these disruptions, the Panama Canal continued to operate normally. The canal is about 203 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake. According to monitoring data, about 90 cargo ships, tankers and container ships were waiting to stop at transit or port facilities on both sides of the canal.

active fault system

Nestor Luque, director of the Institute of Geology of Panama, attributed the earthquake to the Azuero-Sona fault system. According to him, this active fault system had been accumulating pressure for a long time, which came out as an earthquake due to the release of energy.

Sabina Rios, who was on the sixth floor of an old building that dates back to the U.S. military presence in Panama, said she had not experienced an earthquake so strong and long-lasting in many years

earthquake damaged

The epicenter of the quake was near La Pitaloza, a sparsely populated rural area in the province of Herrera near the Pacific coast. Tremors were also felt in San José, the capital of neighboring Costa Rica.

Video from the city of Panónöme, located between the epicenter of the quake and Panama City, showed a church damaged and some nearby buildings collapsed. Omar Smith, head of the Civil Protection Agency, told Telemetro Reporta that there was also damage in Chitare, the capital of Herrera province, and coastal areas in the province of Los Santos.

The USGS estimated that economic damage from the earthquake could range from 1 to 10 percent of Panama's gross domestic product (GDP).

Tsunami threat averted, nationwide drills on Monday

U.S. Tsunami Warning System later reported that the tsunami threat had averted and that no further danger was expected. Earlier, there were warnings that dangerous tsunami waves could reach the coastal areas of Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico within three hours of the quake.

Panama is scheduled to hold a nationwide evacuation exercise on Monday. The aim is to test preparedness to deal with emergencies such as earthquakes. Major earthquakes are rare in the country. The incident comes at a time when Venezuela and Colombia also had large earthquake that killed thousands of people in the two countries combined.

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