7.7 quake shakes Panama, triggers coastal tsunami alert

On Friday afternoon, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake rocked southern Panama, sending office workers and residents scrambling from tall buildings in the capital as structures swayed and collapsed inland.

The United States Geological Survey pinpointed the event at 17:56 GMT, roughly 10 kilometres from the south-central town of Pitaloza Arriba and about 200 kilometres away from Panama City. The tremor originated at a shallow depth of 12 kilometres and lasted around one minute, felt across the nation's 4.5 million people.

Despite expectations of widespread property damage, no deaths or injuries were immediately reported following the quake.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System cautioned that waves up to three metres above normal tide levels could reach Panama's coasts. Similar warnings for smaller but potentially dangerous waves were also issued for other parts of Latin America and the South Pacific.

President José Raúl Mulino used social media to address Panamanians, urging calm as emergency services began their damage assessment.

Central Panama experiences earthquakes infrequently, with seismic activity typically concentrated in the western Chiriquí province bordering Costa Rica. Friday's event marks the fourth tremor exceeding magnitude 7.0 to strike Latin America this year, following significant earthquakes in Venezuela during June and Colombia in August.