Arise tsunami alert in the Pacific after strong earthquake in Panama

O The United States Tsunamis Alert System withdrew the tsunami alert issued hours earlier to the Pacific coast after the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that hit Panama today.

“The risk of tsunami has passed” and “there is no warning, warning, surveillance or tsunami threat,” reports the US system on its website.

Other countries on the Pacific coast — such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru and Mexico — had also been briefly warned about a possible tsunami threat, which was also withdrawn.

El Salvador had already suspended its tsunami alert, as well as Chile, which had alerted the threat to Easter Island.

A few hours after a strong magnitude 7.7 earthquake, a second magnitude 6.6 was recorded in Panama today, according to the United States Geological Service (USGS).

The first shock was recorded by the USGS with epicenter in the south-central region of the country, 10 km deep, and forced mass evacuations, causing material damage throughout the country.

The earthquake occurred at 12:56, local time (17:56 GMT).

USGS reported that there were at least five secondary tremors with magnitude greater than 5, including one 5.8 south of El Cacao.

According to the local institute of geosciences, more than ten strong replicas, some of them of magnitude 6, were recorded after the first powerful earthquake.

The seismologists at the University of Panama recorded more than 45 replicas, although many were too weak to feel.

According to President José Raúl Mulino, the authorities did not register deaths or injuries until Friday night, but this situation may change in the next few hours or in the next few days.

“No one was prepared, and no one is ever prepared for this kind of disaster,” Mulino said, after appealing to calm.

Tocumen International Airport in Panama City — one of the busiest in the region, with more than 20 million passengers in 2025 — announced in the meantime that it resumed its air operations after the temporary suspension caused by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake.

The airport informed through its Instagram account that inspections were carried out on runways, airport facilities and the control tower, without any damage being recorded that would prevent the resumption of operations.

Operations in the Panama Canal, the country’s main infrastructure, continue “normally” after the earthquake, announced the administration of the waterway.

“Emergency protocols have been activated” and facilities are being inspected “to identify possible damage” in the channel connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reported.

Omar Smith, of the National Civil Protection Service, told the news channel Telemetro Reporta that the damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos. In the capital, known for its hundreds of skyscrapers, there were no reports of damage, it went ahead.

Smith reported that there are reports of several wounded, including a person struck by debris from a structure that partially collapsed in the city of Penonome, about 150 km from the capital. It also confirmed the partial collapse and fissures in the cathedral located in the main square of the district, as well as damage to the provincial government building and the Hotel Dos Continentes.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities.

The local press also reported the collapse of the Church of San Atanasio, in the province of Los Santos, which had been declared National Historical Heritage in 1938.

In other areas, including the province of Veraguas, large cracks have arisen on the roads.

The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in the meantime the mobilization of resources and personnel to assist Panama at the request of the Government of the Central American country.

“The United States supports the Panamanian people,” Rubio published on the X, stating that he closely monitors information about the earthquake

The head of US diplomacy has not detailed the extent of the damage or the resources that will be mobilised, stressing that assistance is being coordinated with the Panamanian authorities.

The Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, whose country was recently hit by earthquakes, expressed his solidarity with the Panamanian people in what he called “difficult moments”.

They also offered assistance to Venezuela's interim President, Delcy Rodríguez, Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, and Peru's government.