A 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook Panama on Friday, causing panic in the capital and the collapse of buildings, with no casualties reported so far.
The earthquake occurred at 12:56 p.m. local time (7:56 p.m. in Switzerland), with an epicenter located 10 km from Pitaloza Arriba, in the province of Herrera (central-south), said the American seismological agency (USGS).
A tsunami alert was then issued in the eastern Pacific, American specialist services announced.
The USGS initially announced a magnitude of 8 before revising it to 7.6, then to 7.7. The tremor was recorded at a shallow depth of 12 kilometers.
Collapsed buildings
“I am in shock and I have not been able to contact my family,” Luis Poveda, an employee of a factory located in Santiago de Veraguas, in the center of the country, told AFP.
According to images broadcast by local media, a hotel partially collapsed in the town of Penonomé, 150 kilometers southwest of the capital Panama.
A church in this town also suffered serious damage and cracks appeared on other buildings.
“We all ran out of the building, the power lines were moving,” Arnulfo Santos, another employee interviewed in Santiago de Veraguas, told AFP.
Civil protection was assessing the damage, detected especially in the central regions of Herrera, Azuero, Veraguas or Los Santos.
A road in the province of Veraguas showed cracks, according to images broadcast by the local press.
One minute long
The earthquake, felt for about a minute, was strongly felt in Panama, where thousands of people left buildings, overcome by fear, AFP noted.
Earthquakes rarely affect the capital and mainly occur in the province of Chiriqui (west), bordering Costa Rica.
According to preliminary reports from the National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc), the tremor was felt throughout the country.
More than a dozen strong aftershocks, some of magnitude 6, were reported after this powerful terrestrial movement, according to the local geosciences institute.
“Dangerous” waves
On his account on the social network
The Ministry of Education announced the national suspension of classes, in “all educational establishments”.
Tsunami waves could hit the coasts of the eastern Pacific, from Mexico to Peru, the United States’ dedicated system warned, citing “dangerous (…) waves possible in the next three hours.”
