Il Nuovo Postiglione - Major earthquake destroys buildings, roads in Panama

The shallow tremor was felt across the Central American nation of around 4.5 million people, according to the National Civil Protection System.

It lasted for around a minute.

In Panama City, about 200 kilometers from the epicenter, there were scenes of panic as people rushed to evacuate from the city's emblematic skyscrapers.

"I was scared because the shaking was very strong and prolonged. Heavy objects like dressers, the bed, and all the kitchen items were shaking," Salomon Andion, 46, told AFP after evacuating his 15-story building for the second time following aftershocks.

A video widely shared on social media showed water falling from the rooftop pool of a building that's over 20 stories tall.

Another showed a bridge over the Panama Canal shaking violently but remaining upright as vehicles travelled across it.

"We are facing a major disaster," President Jose Raul Mulino said, adding that some roads had "completely collapsed."

"It was horrible, like nothing we ever experienced. My daughter was trapped in school," Juana Alveo, a 38-year-old cashier at a store in the city of Penonome in central Cocle province told AFP.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 1756 GMT with an epicenter 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the small town of Pitaloza Arriba in central Herrera province.

The USGS initially estimated it to be a magnitude-8.0 quake before revising it to 7.7.

A tsunami warming was issued for the eastern Pacific but later lifted.

The Panama Canal Authority said shipping through the channel, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, was unaffected and operating "as normal."

Mulino travelled to Penonome to coordinate the disaster response.

Health Minister Fernando Boyd said the most affected areas were the provinces of Herrera and Cocle as well as Los Santos in the southeast.

He said the town of Tonosi in Los Santos was completely cut off.

"We are trying to figure out how to get there by air, because it's impossible by land," he said.

Panama City's international airport, a major hub for the region, was temporarily closed.

Several flights were diverted to other airports as a precaution, according to the Civil Aeronautics Authority.

The leaders of Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala all sent messages of solidarity and offers to send aid.

- Over 80 aftershocks -

Earthquakes are rare in Panama and usually occur in the western Chiriqui province, bordering Costa Rica.

Former president Ricardo Martinelli posted pictures on Instagram of his house in the town of Sona in Veraguas province which collapsed.

A church and a hotel in Penonome also suffered extensive damage, images shared on local media showed.

Over 80 aftershocks, one above magnitude 6.0, were recorded by the local geosciences institute.

Writing on X, Mulino called for calm.

"What happened should not be used to generate alarms and disorder," he said, adding that he had called for a report on the damage.

The education ministry announced the suspension of classes in schools nationwide.

The Panamanian quake is at least the fourth quake this year in Latin America surpassing 7.0 in magnitude, after devastating back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela's Guaira in June and a powerful earthquake in western Colombia in August.

S.Abato--INP