The US Geological Survey recorded a magnitude 7.7 quake near Panama's Azuero area on Friday. A tsunami warning was later cancelled, and damage reports focused on three central provinces.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck near Panama's southern tip on Friday morning, the US Geological Survey said, shaking buildings more than 100 miles away in the capital. CBS News, citing the USGS and the Associated Press, said the quake was centered about 7 miles southwest of Pitaloza Arriba at a depth of about 7 miles.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center first warned of possible waves on Panama's coast and later said the threat had passed. People in Panama City evacuated into the streets after buildings shook.
Rosendo Dominguez, 60, from Herrera province, told AP the shaking knocked things over in the kitchen and that people were outside and scared. The USGS recorded aftershocks of 5.8 and 5.5.
President Jose Raul Mulino called for calm and wrote that the quake should not be used to cause alarm or disorder. Omar Smith of the National Civil Protection Service told Telemetro Reporta that damage was concentrated in Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos.
Panama is outside this brief's country list, so the row is filed as World. A full casualty count was not in the CBS account.
People Sentiments Negative
- Rosendo Dominguez told the Associated Press the quake knocked things over and that people were outside and scared.
- Jose Raul Mulino said the quake should not be used to cause alarm or disorder.