[kellyhound]

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck south-central Panama today, triggering a widespread tsunami warning, cutting power lines, and causing structural collapses across multiple central provinces.

There are no officially confirmed numbers of deaths or severe injuries as rescue teams deploy to remote communities near the epicenter.

Thousands of residents evacuated into the streets in panic, particularly in Herrera, Los Santos, and Veraguas provinces, where people fear returning to cracked or unstable structures.

In the city of Penonomé (Coclé province), local video broadcasts captured the collapse of a Catholic cathedral and sections of a hotel facade crushing vehicles below. Structural failures were also reported in the town of Soná.

Grid failures have cut electricity and local telecom services across several southern communities.

In Panama City, high-rise skyscrapers shook violently, causing mass evacuations of office buildings and hospitals, but no major structural collapses have been reported there.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System placed a vast stretch of the Pacific coastline on alert, warning that waves ranging from 3 to 9 feet above tide level could strike the shores of Panama.

The warning extends to neighboring Latin American coasts, with precautionary advisories issued for Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. Chile has also placed its remote Easter Island under alert.

The earthquake hits under highly ironic timing, as Panama was scheduled to hold a national earthquake evacuation drill in exactly three days.

[DarkSighted]

Instant block party! Somehow the bridge one is scariest, for me at least.

[William May]

Any damage to the Panama Canal?

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by William May ↗

Any damage to the Panama Canal?

They did an inspection but no damage was found (too far away from epicenter, 124 miles) in Panama city only racked walls in university buildings and falling debris from roofs.

[William May]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

They did an inspection but no damage was found (too far away from epicenter, 124 miles) in Panama city only racked walls in university buildings and falling debris from roofs.

I just thought of all those HUGE lock doors, hundreds of tons each, hanging on their precision hinges, and I wondered if it was going to bring everything to a halt. Not like finding your bathroom door is a little out of line, and you have to hit it with your hand.