A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck southern Panama on Friday, damaging buildings and causing mass evacuations but no immediate reports of deaths or widespread destruction. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the epicenter was in a sparsely populated area about 200 kilometers from the capital at a depth of 12.6 kilometers. Despite the force of the quake, only some buildings collapsed in Penonome and normal operations resumed quickly for major infrastructure like the Panama Canal and Tocumen International Airport.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocks Panama
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earthquake → rock → Panama
Country appears to have escaped widespread destruction or deaths
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck southern Panama on Friday, damaging buildings and sending thousands into the streets, but the country appeared to escape widespread destruction or deaths.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake hit at a depth of 12.6 kilometres, with an epicentre in a sparsely populated area about 200 kilometres 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.
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Airport → appear → flights
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.
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he → fret → bus
"They evacuated all of these buildings.
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They → evacuate → buildings
Now the problem is, how do we get home?"
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we → get → ?
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.
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church → travel → epicentre
Despite the force of Friday's 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.
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deaths → appear → region
Back-to-back quakes in Venezuela in June killed several thousand people, while a quake in Colombia in August killed more than 300.
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quake → kill → 300
Cars are seen crushed under a collapsed building after an earthquake in Penonome, Panama, on Friday.
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Cars → see → Friday
An exposure report by the USGS estimated about 43,000 Panamanians lived in areas with at least severe exposure to the quake.
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Panamanians → estimate → 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.
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This → compare → Colombia
Nestor Luque, director of Panama's geosciences institute, attributed the quake to the Azuero Sona Fault System that he said contained a massive buildup of pressure that is occasionally released.
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that → attribute → pressure
"The seismic signals have travelled throughout the national territory and that is why it could be felt everywhere."
uncertain
it → travel → territory
People gather on a street in Panama City after an earthquake on Friday.
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People → gather → Friday
In Panama City, Luque said he counted 40 seconds of vibrations, though other areas may have felt even longer tremors.
uncertain
areas → say → tremors
Sabina Rios, who was on the sixth floor of an old U.S. military-era building in Panama City, said the shaking was unusually strong and prolonged.
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shaking → say → City
"The quake felt strong and lasted a long time, the longest I've felt in years," Rios said.
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Rios → feel → years
People look at a damaged government building in Penonome on Friday.
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People → look → Friday
Victor Pinzon, a 48-year-old maintenance worker, told Reuters he had watched high-rise window cleaners ride out the shaking.
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cleaners → tell → shaking
"It's a miracle they didn't get killed," he said.
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he → kill → ?
"They looked like they were swinging in a hammock.
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they → look → hammock
Strong earthquakes are not common in Panama, and some elderly residents were in tears as they evacuated into the streets.
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they → evacuate → streets
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.
uncertain
he → crack → homes
A statue is seen by the earthquake in Penonome on Friday.
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statue → see → Friday
Omar Smith, who heads Panama's civil protection agency, told news outlet Telemetro Reporta that impacts had also been reported in Chitre, the capital of Herrera, and along the coast in Los Santos province.
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impacts → head → province
The USGS estimated economic losses could amount to 1 to 10 per cent of Panama's gross domestic product, and electricity provider Naturgy reported power outages in six provinces.
uncertain
Naturgy → estimate → provinces
Panama was due to hold a national evacuation drill on Monday of next week to test the country's emergency response.
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Panama → hold → response
The Aporia
