Powerful quake hits Panama, damages homes; canal operations normal
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- A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Panama’s southern coast at a 10km depth, the US Geological Survey said, and people were seen evacuating buildings in Panama City.
- No damage was first reported, and the Panama Canal Authority said canal operations were normal after the quake.
- The US Tsunami Warning System warned of possible hazardous waves for Panama and several Pacific countries, and said Hawaii also faced a tsunami threat.
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PANAMA CITY – A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Panama on Oct 9, damaging buildings and sending thousands into the streets, but the country appeared to escape widespread destruction or deaths.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake hit at a depth of 12.6km, with an epicentre in a sparsely populated area about 200km from the capital, and that some casualties were possible.
In the following hours, even as more than 40 aftershocks rattled the isthmus nation, the Panama Canal and Cobre Panama copper mine reported normal operations and the Tocumen International Airport lifted a suspension on flights.
The Panama Canal, about 203km from the epicentre, was operating normally.
About 90 vessels – including bulk carriers, tankers and container ships – were waiting at both ends of the key waterway to transit or dock at berths serving storage terminals and trans-shipment services, according to monitoring data from LSEG’s Workspace.
Office workers in the upscale business hub of downtown Panama City fretted about how to get home in the snarl of traffic, after the quake sent thousands into the streets.
Juan Sanchez, a 37-year-old economy ministry employee, waited for a bus he said he doubted would arrive.
“They evacuated all of these buildings. Everyone is outside. Now the problem is, how do we get home?” he said.
President Raul Mulino travelled to Penonome, a city about halfway between the epicentre and Panama City, where some buildings collapsed and a church was damaged.
Despite the force of the Oct 9 tremor, the country appeared to have been spared the destruction of other recent powerful quakes in the region, with no deaths or injuries immediately reported.
Back-to-back quakes in Venezuela in June killed several thousand people, while a quake in Colombia in August killed more than 300.
An exposure report by the USGS estimated about 43,000 Panamanians lived in areas with at least severe exposure to the quake. This compares with nearly 1.4 million in the area of the twin quakes in Venezuela and over 1.6 million in the quake-hit zone of western Colombia.
Prolonged vibrations
Nestor Luque, director of Panama’s geosciences institute, attributed the quake to the Azuero Sona Fault System that he said contained a massive build-up of pressure that is occasionally released.
“The seismic signals have travelled throughout the national territory and that is why it could be felt everywhere.”
In Panama City, Luque said he counted 40 seconds of vibrations, though other areas may have felt even longer tremors.
Sabina Rios, who was on the sixth floor of an old US military-era building in Panama City, said the shaking was unusually strong and prolonged. “The quake felt strong and lasted a long time, the longest I’ve felt in years,” Rios said.
Victor Pinzon, a 48-year-old maintenance worker, told Reuters he had watched high-rise window cleaners ride out the shaking.
“It’s a miracle they didn’t get killed,” he said. “They looked like they were swinging in a hammock.”
Strong earthquakes are not common in Panama, and some elderly residents were in tears as they evacuated into the streets.
“We’re scared. It’s just the two of us old folks here. The house has cracked, and we’re afraid it could fall on us,” said Ricardo Brown, 74, in Herrera province in southern Panama, where he said he saw a number of damaged homes.
Omar Smith, who heads Panama’s civil protection agency, told local outlet Telemetro Reporta that impacts had been reported in Chitre, capital of Herrera, and along the coast in Los Santos province.
People evacuated from a building in Panama City on Oct 9, after Panama was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake.
PHOTO: AFP
Video footage shared by newspaper La Prensa showed the tower of a historic building had collapsed, along with several balconies of a residential building in Penonome.
In the capital, the service on two lines of the Panama City Metro was temporarily suspended for safety reasons, the operator said. Nationwide, Panama’s ministry of education ordered the closure of schools.
The USGS estimated economic losses could amount to 1% to 10% of Panama’s gross domestic product, and electricity provider Naturgy reported power outages in six provinces.
Panama was due to hold a national evacuation drill on Oct 12 to test the country’s emergency response capabilities against earthquakes. REUTERS