Panama rattled by fresh 5.5 magnitude earthquake

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the Panama region following powerful twin earthquakes that shook the country’s southern coast on Friday, triggering evacuations, damaging buildings and prompting tsunami warnings across parts of Central and South America.

According to news agency Reuters, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported the latest tremor, while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) earlier recorded a magnitude 6.0 earthquake 7 km north of La Tronosa in Panama. The latest tremor came amid a series of aftershocks following the earlier major earthquakes. The USGS initially reported the first major earthquake at magnitude 8 before revising it to 7.6 and subsequently 7.7. The quake was centred about 10 km south-west of Pitaloza Arriba, a remote community in Herrera province, at a depth of 10 km.

Multiple aftershocks continued to rattle the country, including tremors measuring magnitudes 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2. Seismologists at the University of Panama recorded more than 45 aftershocks, although many were too weak to be felt. “We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared,” Rosendo Domínguez, 60, who is from Herrera province, told The Associated Press over the phone. “Everyone is outside, scared.”

Panamanian president José Raúl Mulino said authorities had not documented any deaths as of Friday evening, while cautioning that the situation could change as assessments continued. “Nobody was ready, and no one is ever ready for this type of disaster,” Mulino said, after urging people to remain calm.

Omar Smith of the National Civil Protection Service told Telemetro Reporta that damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos, with no damage reported in Panama City at the time. Several injuries were reported, including a person struck by debris from a partially collapsed structure in Penonomé. Officials also reported damage to the cathedral in Penonomé, the governor’s office building and the Dos Continentes hotel. Local media reported that the historic Church of San Atanasio in Los Santos province had collapsed.

Tocumen International Airport temporarily suspended operations after the initial quake before reopening, while the Panama Canal Authority said operations were continuing normally as technical teams inspected facilities. The National Weather Service subsequently lifted tsunami warnings for several regional coastlines, including Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.