It's been quite a year for earthquakes, hasn't it? In Latin America specifically, there were two major earthquakes in Venezuela in late June that killed thousands, and a big one in Colombia in August that did quite a bit of damage. There have also been several smaller ones throughout the region in between.  

On Friday, October 9, a major 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Panama, just before 1:00 p.m. local time. It hit just southwest of Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera province. A second 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck just after, and according to the University of Panama, there were at least 45 aftershocks.  

As I'm writing this around 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday, and while there are reports of several injuries, no deaths have been confirmed, but the United States Geological Survey predicts that casualties could range from "dozens to hundreds." I will add that we won't see numbers anything like what we did in Venezuela, given that Panama has far better infrastructure built to much higher standards. That said, economic damage is predicted to be up to hundreds of millions of dollars, or roughly 1-10% of the country's GDP. From what I've seen so far, those may be liberal estimates, thank goodness.  

To give you an idea of the strength of the earthquake, a Pacific Ocean tsunami threat was issued for Panama and parts of Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. It has since been called off. 

The shaking could be felt as far away as San José, Costa Rica. I actually contacted a friend of mine who lives in Costa Rica near the Panama border to make sure he was okay. He told me that he didn't think there was any damage to his town, but it was one of the strongest earthquakes he'd ever felt, and he was already seeing videos of damage from people he knows on social media.   

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According to my research, some of the damage documented so far includes: 

Tocumen International Airport suspended flights for a few hours, but it has since resumed normal activity. Panama City Metro stopped two lines and evacuated stations, while the entire nation canceled school for the day. While there is video online of the Centennial Bridge cables swaying, traffic across the Panama Canal is flowing normally.   

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has offered the support of the United States. "I am closely monitoring reports of the earthquake in southern Panama. The United States stands with the people of Panama," he posted on X on Friday evening, adding, "At the request of the Panamanian government, the State Department is rapidly mobilizing resources and personnel to assist."  

President José Raúl Mulino, who has been touring the devastated areas, thanked him.  

I'll leave you with a few pictures and videos of the damage and the moment it happened, and if there is more news to report in the days ahead, I'll be on top of it as best I can, assuming Hurricane Isaias doesn't take out my ability to get online this weekend.