Panama Quake Triggers 40 Aftershocks After 7.7 Tremor Damages Buildings
Updated
Updated · CNN · Oct 9
Panama Quake Triggers 40 Aftershocks After 7.7 Tremor Damages Buildings
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Oct 9
Summary
More than 40 aftershocks, including a 6.6 tremor, followed the 7.7 earthquake that struck southern Panama, with officials reporting minor injuries but no deaths or missing people so far.
Structural damage hit homes, roads, hotels, churches and government buildings; verified footage showed damaged buildings in Penonome, while a multi-story building collapsed in Playa Venao and crushed several cars.
Panama disrupted key services as two metro lines were suspended, classes were canceled nationwide, water treatment plants lost power and the main international airport briefly closed before resuming operations.
The Panama Canal kept operating normally while inspections continued, and President José Raúl Mulino mobilized resources and visited an affected hospital where some patients were treated outdoors after evacuation.
A tsunami warning was later lifted, and the quake adds to a year of deadly Latin American seismic disasters after major earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia.