Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Panama; historic sites damaged, tsunami warnings issued

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Panama on Friday, October 9, 2026, centered approximately 10 kilometers southwest of Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera province at a depth of 10 kilometers. The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake as magnitude 8.0 before revising it to 7.6 and then 7.7. The earthquake was felt across neighboring Colombia and prompted immediate evacuations in Panama City and other localities.

Damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera, and Los Santos. In Penonomé district, approximately 150 kilometers west of the capital, the cathedral in the main square sustained partial collapse and cracks, while the Dos Continentes hotel and governor's office building were damaged. The Church of San Atanasio, a colonial-style Catholic church in Los Santos province declared a National Historic Heritage Site in 1938, collapsed. Large fissures also appeared along roadways in Veraguas province. The National Civil Protection Service reported several injuries, including one person struck by debris from a partially collapsed structure in Penonomé, but no immediate fatalities were reported. Panama City's hundreds of skyscrapers sustained no reported damage.

Tocumen International Airport, one of the region's busiest with over 20 million travelers in 2025, temporarily suspended operations and activated evacuation plans pending security inspections. The Panama Canal Authority reported that operations continued normally along the key global trade route, with specialized technical teams inspecting facilities for possible damage.

More than 45 aftershocks followed the main quake, with several measuring above 5.5 magnitude, including shocks of 5.8, 5.5, and 5.2. Strong shaking was again felt in Panama City around 6:15 p.m. local time on Friday evening. The National Weather Service issued tsunami warnings for Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, with El Salvador issuing a moderate tsunami threat warning. Warnings extended as far as Chile's Easter Island. Potential wave heights of 1 to 3 meters above tide level were warned for some coastal areas of Panama, with El Salvador bracing for up to 1 meter of sea-level rise within two hours. Colombia's maritime authority later ruled out tsunami threat to its Pacific coast.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino called for calm, stating on social media that the earthquake "should not be used to cause alarm or disorder." Panama lies along the Pacific Basin's "Ring of Fire," a 40,000-kilometer arc of volcanoes and fault lines where most of the world's earthquakes occur. The interaction of multiple tectonic plates—including the Cocos, Nazca, and Caribbean plates—makes earthquakes common in Panama, especially along its border with Costa Rica and its Pacific coast. The last major damaging earthquake in Panama struck in 1991, a magnitude 7.4 quake centered in Costa Rica that killed 23 people and injured 559.