PANAMA CITY, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- A powerful earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks rattled Panama on Friday, causing damage to buildings and roads and prompting evacuations across the country.
As of 8 p.m. local time Friday (0100 GMT Saturday), Panama's National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC) said in its second bulletin that 27 people had been injured.
THE QUAKE
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the initial earthquake was centered on the Azuero Peninsula in south-central Panama, about 40 km from Tonosi, a town in Los Santos province, and 60 km from Santiago, the capital of Veraguas province and a regional transport and commercial hub. The epicenter lies in a largely rural area with a sparse population.
The USGS initially reported the earthquake at magnitude 8, then revised it to 7.6 and later to 7.7. Multiple aftershocks continued to rattle Panama, with seismologists at the University of Panama recording more than 45.
Despite the strength of the successive quakes, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said authorities had not documented anyone killed by Friday evening, though he cautioned that could change in the coming hours or days.
Mulino said the entire government had been mobilized for the response, and that he had ordered agencies to promptly report the earthquake's effects and deploy personnel, resources and aid to affected communities.
"The disaster we are facing is severe," Mulino told reporters when visiting Penonome in Cocle province to assess the damage, adding that some roads had been destroyed and urging residents to remain calm and follow instructions from SINAPROC.
IMPACTS
Health Minister Fernando Boyd said Cocle, Los Santos and Herrera were among the hardest-hit provinces.
Buildings partially collapsed in Penonome and cracks appeared in roads, while in Los Santos province, the Church of San Atanasio, a colonial-style Catholic church declared a National Historic Heritage Site in 1938, had collapsed, according to local reports.
The USGS estimated economic losses could amount to 1-10 percent of Panama's GDP, and electricity provider Naturgy reported power outages in six provinces.
Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, one of the region's busiest airports, temporarily suspended operations after the first quake but reopened Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Panama Canal Authority said canal operations remained normal, adding that it had activated emergency procedures and begun inspecting facilities.
SEISMIC RISKS
Earthquakes are common in Panama, particularly near its border with Costa Rica and along its Pacific coast, due to the interaction of several tectonic plates, including the Cocos, Nazca and Caribbean plates.
Panama also lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity surrounding the Pacific Basin.
Carlos Valdes, head of the Seismology Department at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said Panama's relatively low death toll compared with other Latin American countries may be attributable to its strict building codes, particularly those governing high-rise construction in the capital.
The earthquake came just three days before Panama was scheduled to hold a national evacuation drill for dealing with a major earthquake. ■
