Panama suffers more than a hundred aftershocks after the powerful 7.7 earthquake that shook the country

The Institute of Geosciences (IGC) of Panama reported that more than one hundred aftershocks have followed the earthquake of magnitude between 7.5 and 7.7 that shook the southeast of the country this Friday, while civil protection sources report at least two injuries and one person trapped in the rubble of a church.

Néstor Luque, director of the IGC, told the TVN television network that all the aftershocks of the main event so far total about 107 that have been felt throughout the country, and even at the time of his statements there were a couple more secondary tremors.

The earthquake was initially recorded by the IGC as having a magnitude of 7.2, but later in the night it was updated to 7.5, as confirmed by Luque on television, while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) initially reported it with a magnitude of 7.6, which was later updated to 7.7.

“All of these aftershocks are here in this area, which is where the 'Azuero-Soná Fault System' is located, which effectively corroborates that the main event was a sudden release of energy from a portion of the active fault,” Luque indicated.

According to the first official report from the Panamanian Government, the earthquake damaged almost all of the country's water treatment plants, churches, hotels, businesses, public buildings and roads, but no fatalities have been reported so far.

The earthquake, with a depth of ten kilometers, caused damage to several buildings and roads near the town of Tonosí, the epicenter of the earthquake, in Penonomé, capital of the central province of Coclé.

Arturo González, for his part, director of the Civil Protection System (Sinaproc) in the central province of Veraguas, told local television that there were two injured in that region, and that a person trapped in the rubble of a collapsed church was also rescued alive. Government sources have reported that land access to Tonosí, the epicenter of the earthquake, is completely closed, so they must arrive by air.

One of the two towers of the cathedral of San Juan Bautista de Penonomé collapsed due to the earthquake, precisely at a time when several priests and the bishop of the municipality, Edgardo Cedeño, were holding a meeting. One side of the Coclé Governorate building also completely collapsed and exposed all the offices, while the other side cracked.

In Panama City the earthquake was strongly felt and since it is a city with numerous skyscrapers, whose height makes the shaking more felt, it caused the streets to be filled with people who had evacuated with what they were wearing in case of possible collapses.