The United States Geological Survey reported this Friday a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the central-southern area of Panama, which has already caused significant material damage. At the moment, there is no data on possible victims, and the tsunami alert that was initially activated has finally been canceled.
The tremor was recorded at 19:56 this Friday (Spanish peninsular time and Balearic Islands), with an epicenter 14 kilometers southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, west of Tonosí, in the province of Los Santos, and with a hypocenter located 10 kilometers deep.
For its part, the Geosciences Institute of the University of Panama has calculated the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.2, placing the hypocenter at 4 kilometers deep, and has reported an immediate aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0, also with no reports of victims so far.
According to a statement from the Panamanian government, the earthquake and its more than 47 aftershocks have already caused serious material damage and mass evacuations, in addition to affecting essential infrastructures such as the drinking water treatment plant in Chilibre.
"There are road infrastructures that have been compromised, government buildings, private businesses (...) The Chilibre treatment plant is currently operating at 20% of its capacity and, so far, no missing persons have been reported," the government announced in the statement disseminated through social media.
The Panamanian newspaper 'La Prensa' details that, in Penonomé, there has been structural damage to the San Juan Bautista cathedral, the headquarters of the Governor's Office, and the Hotel Dos Continentes. The structure of the Santiago cathedral in Veraguas has also suffered damage. Additionally, Tocumen International Airport has temporarily suspended its operations to carry out the necessary evaluations.
The USGS has noted the occurrence of at least five subsequent tectonic movements with a magnitude greater than 5, including one of 5.8 south of El Cacao. At the same time, the Panama Canal Authority has indicated that operations are proceeding normally, that emergency protocols have been activated, and that technical teams are reviewing the facilities.
The President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, is closely monitoring the situation and has asked the Minister of Government, Dinoska Montalvo, as well as the security forces, to keep him constantly informed about the impact of the earthquakes.
"No one is ever prepared for this type of activities, so from here to tomorrow, we will fill ourselves with more resources (...) The disaster we are facing is large, it is not national, in some places more than others, but the most important thing here is to preserve calm," the president has declared to the media present.