Two powerful earthquakes damage buildings across Panama

• The first quake struck near Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera province; a separate magnitude 6.6 earthquake followed near Río Grande.
• Buildings were damaged in central Panama, including a partial collapse at a cathedral in Penonomé; officials reported injuries.
• Tocumen airport suspended flights for safety checks, then reopened.
• The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat from the first quake had passed.

The first earthquake struck at 12.56pm local time on Friday near Pitaloza Arriba, in central Panama. The US Geological Survey (USGS) gives its magnitude as 7.7. A second, separate earthquake struck near Río Grande at 3.25pm; the USGS recorded it at magnitude 6.6.¹²

The shaking sent people into the streets of Panama City and damaged buildings in the central provinces. Panama’s civil protection service reported several injuries, including one person hit by falling debris in Penonomé. The town’s San Juan Bautista Cathedral suffered a partial collapse and cracks; the governor’s office and Dos Continentes hotel were also damaged, the Associated Press reported.³

Rosendo Domínguez, a resident of Herrera province, told the AP that the shaking knocked things over in his kitchen. “Everyone is outside, scared,” he said. University of Panama seismologists recorded more than 45 aftershocks, the AP reported.³

Tocumen International Airport temporarily halted operations after the first quake. It reopened after inspections found no damage to the runway, control tower, terminal or taxiways, according to travel-industry outlet T News; some incoming flights were diverted while it was closed.⁴

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said at 7.39pm UTC that the tsunami threat from the first earthquake had passed, while advising people to remain cautious near the sea. The US Tsunami Warning Centers later listed the separate 3.25pm event as magnitude 6.9 and said no warning, advisory, watch or threat was in force for the US and Canadian coasts.⁵⁶

Panama’s electricity transmission operator ETESA said the national transmission grid remained stable and that it was inspecting the system. That statement did not establish whether all local power interruptions had been resolved.⁷

Footnotes

1. US Geological Survey, main earthquake event record. ↩

2. US Geological Survey, separate earthquake near Río Grande. ↩

3. Associated Press, “Two powerful earthquakes, multiple aftershocks, rock Panama”. ↩ ↩²

4. T News, “Aeropuerto de Panamá reanudó operaciones”. ↩

5. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, final threat message, 9 October 2026. ↩

6. US Tsunami Warning Centers, event information. ↩

7. TVN Panamá, ETESA report on transmission-grid stability. ↩