A 7.7 earthquake shakes Panama
The epicenter has been located in the southeast of the country
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BarcelonaA 7.7-magnitude earthquake shook southeastern Panama this Friday at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter was located 12 kilometers from the town of Tonosí, in southern Panama, and about 239 kilometers from the capital. Afterward, aftershocks of magnitudes 6.1 and 6.0 were recorded, and a more recent one of 5.3. There is still no information regarding the death toll or material damage.
The earthquake occurred at 12:56 local time (19:56 in Catalonia) and was felt strongly in some areas of the Panamanian capital, where several buildings in the old banking district were preventively evacuated, as EFE has been able to confirm.
For its part, the United States Tsunami Warning System has issued a tsunami threat alert for the Pacific coast of Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua following the Panama earthquake. In El Salvador, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has alerted the population of a tsunami threat, with an estimated arrival time at the Salvadoran coast starting at 14:37 (20:37 GMT). The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy has also alerted of a tsunami threat and has declared a state of precaution for Easter Island, in the South Pacific.
In recent months, large-magnitude earthquakes have been recorded in Latin America. In Venezuela, on June 24, two consecutive earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 occurred, causing massive destruction in La Guaira, about 30 kilometers from Caracas. According to the latest report from the Venezuelan government on August 24, the earthquakes caused at least 6,509 deaths, caused moderate damage to 14,239 homes, and severe damage to 11,001 more. In Colombia, on the morning of August 10, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake affected 500 municipalities in 16 departments, half of the 32 the country has. A total of 486,917 people from 303,934 families suffered some type of impact. Colombian authorities have put the death toll at 335 and the number of injured at 4,516.
