A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Panama, prompting an urgent tsunami threat alert.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that dangerous waves could affect coastal areas across nine countries: Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.
Residents in vulnerable coastal communities were told to remain vigilant and follow guidance issued by national and local authorities.
‘A tsunami is a series of waves. The time between wave crests can vary from five minutes to an hour,’ the National Weather Service (NWS) Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said in its alert.
‘The hazard may persist for many hours or longer after the initial wave.’
The US Geological Survey (USGS) first measured the earthquake at magnitude 8.0 before revising the estimate down to 7.7.
The quake struck southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, a small village of just over 100 people. Tremors were also felt in Panama City and in the capital of neighboring Costa Rica.
Video from the San Miguelito Metro station in Panama City, roughly 134 miles from the epicenter, showed people rushing to evacuate after the ground began shaking.
A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Panama, prompting an urgent tsunami threat alert
People rushed out of buildings in Panama City after feeling the earthquake
Workers and visitors fled the Santo Tomas Hospital maternity ward in Panama City
Shaken residents gathered in Panama’s streets as they waited for updates on the earthquake’s impact.
Rosendo Domínguez, 60, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press: ‘We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared.’
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Workers and visitors at the Santo Tomas Hospital maternity ward in Panama City also evacuated the building.
The evacuation sent even week-old babies outside as residents awaited information about possible damage.
Panama’s Civil Protection agency said it was assessing reports of possible damage in areas close to the earthquake’s epicenter.
The Panama Canal Authority said the country’s vital waterway continued to operate normally.
More than 45 minutes later, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Bajo Corral, about 28 miles east of Pitaloza Arriba.
The USGS later recorded a third earthquake, this one measuring magnitude 5.8, near El Cacao.
The village is located approximately 18 miles southwest of the first earthquake’s epicenter.
A maternity ward in Panama City was forced to evacaute, forcing week-old babies outside
Hospital personnel at the children’s hospital were seen standing outside moments after the earthquake hit
Above is an aerial view of people leaving the hostpital after the earthquake hit
Several other 5.5-magnitude earthquakes hit off the coast of Panama more than one hour after the first struck.
A USGS map shows the strongest shaking from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake was reported near the epicenter on the Azuero Peninsula, with powerful tremors around Ocú and Las Tablas.
Shaking was also reported in Santiago and farther west in David, Boquete and Changuinola. Lighter tremors reached Panama City.