A powerful earthquake struck off Panama's southwestern coast on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the magnitude-7.7 quake hit at 12:56 p.m. local time (17:56 UTC), with its epicenter about 14 kilometers southwest of the town of Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera Province. The quake was shallow, at a depth of just 12.6 kilometers. The USGS initially reported a magnitude of 8.0 before revising it down to 7.7.
At 18:02 UTC, the U.S. National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning covering Colombia, Ecuador, and much of the Central American Pacific coast. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said waves of 1 to 3 meters were possible along some of Panama's coasts, while coastal areas of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, and Chile could see less intense waves.
The Panama Canal Authority reported that the global shipping waterway is operating normally, Reuters said. For this chokepoint connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific, a first-hour all-clear on navigation is a critical signal.
Panama's President José Raúl Mulino called for calm in a statement posted to his official X account, saying the event should not be used to "create alarm and disorder." He said government agencies were investigating the quake's effects and would report back. Local newspaper La Prensa reported that buildings, schools, and homes were evacuated across the Central American country.
The epicenter was about 190 kilometers from the capital, Panama City, where shaking was strongly felt. CNN reported that the city's metro system suspended service on two lines and evacuated passengers from some stations; the Education Ministry canceled classes nationwide for the rest of the day; and the country's main international airport was temporarily closed as a precaution. CNN-verified footage showed damaged buildings in Penonomé, about 110 kilometers from the epicenter, including a church with a partially collapsed steeple and another building with a crumbled facade. Outside a maternity ward at a hospital in the capital, evacuated mothers-to-be gathered on the street, while videos online showed water sloshing out of rooftop swimming pools.
Geologically, the quake struck a complex tectonic zone. Northwest of the Panama–Costa Rica border, the Cocos plate is subducting beneath the Caribbean plate along the Middle America Trench, while to the southeast the Nazca plate subducts; the boundary between the two is the Panama fracture zone, forming a triple junction. Such tectonic boundaries are prone to strong earthquakes, and 7.7-magnitude energy released from a shallow depth explains the violent shaking felt across the region.
A 5.8-magnitude aftershock struck shortly after, about 10 kilometers south of the town of Cacao. Tremors were also felt in San José, the capital of neighboring Costa Rica, and in several cities in Colombia. Full casualty and damage figures are not yet available, though USGS modeling suggests "some casualties are possible and extensive damage is probable." Authorities are still assessing losses, and tsunami monitoring remains in effect.