Two powerful earthquakes, preliminary magnitudes 7.7 and 6.6, and a series of aftershocks roiled southern Panama on Friday afternoon, collapsing buildings near the epicenter and prompting evacuations across the country, according to the US Geological Survey. The earlier quake was centered about 6 miles southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba in the central province of Herrera, at a depth of about 6 miles, and was felt as far away as neighboring Colombia. The USGS initially reported it as magnitude 8, then revised it to 7.6 and later to 7.7. Aftershocks including magnitudes 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2 continued to rattle the country, and seismologists at the University of Panama recorded more than 45 aftershocks. The Emergency Operations Center director René García told CNN that 147 aftershocks followed the main quake, some reaching magnitudes of 6.1 or 6.6.

The most striking outcome is what did not happen: despite back-to-back quakes of magnitude 7.7 and 6.6, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said authorities had not documented anyone killed as of Friday evening, though he cautioned that could change in coming hours or days. "Nobody was ready, and no one is ever ready for this type of disaster," Mulino said after calling for calm. Officials cited by the AP and CNN said several people suffered minor injuries but there were no reports of fatalities or missing persons. The notably lighter toll, in a region recently devastated by quakes, may be due to Panama's strict building codes, especially governing skyscraper construction in the capital, according to Carlos Valdés of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Two quakes in Venezuela's La Guaira state in June killed more than 6,500 people, and an August quake in Colombia killed at least 289.

Damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos, with no reports of damage in Panama City's skyscraper core, according to Omar Smith of the National Civil Protection Service. In Penonomé, about 93 miles from the capital, one person was struck by debris from a partially collapsed structure, and CNN-verified footage showed a church with a partially collapsed steeple and a building with a crumbled facade. The colonial-era Church of San Atanasio in Los Santos province, declared a National Historic Heritage Site in 1938, collapsed, and a partial collapse and cracks were confirmed at the Penonomé cathedral, the governor's office building and the Dos Continentes hotel. In the resort town of Playa Venao, a multi-story building collapsed and crushed several cars, per CNN. Large fissures sliced through roadways in Veraguas province.

Tremors shook Panama City, where residents rushed into the streets and the metro suspended service on two lines, evacuating passengers from some stations, CNN reported. The Education Ministry canceled classes nationwide for the rest of the day, and Tocumen International Airport, one of the region's busiest with more than 20 million passengers in 2025, temporarily suspended operations before reopening Friday afternoon. A tsunami warning issued shortly after the quakes for the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala — with alerts as far as Chile's Easter Island — was later lifted, per the National Weather Service. Néstor Luque of the University of Panama's Geosciences Institute said waves of 3 to 10 feet were expected around Isla Cañas, where seawater reached coastal homes.

The Panama Canal Authority said operations were continuing normally along the global trade route, with specialized technical teams inspecting facilities for damage, though CNN noted the Centennial Bridge's suspension cables were seen shaking as vehicles crossed. Offers of assistance poured in from across the region: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was "rapidly mobilizing resources and personnel to assist" at Panama's request, and Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella wrote, "Panama is not alone!" Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and Peru's government also offered help, per AP reporting carried by CTV News and the Los Angeles Times.

Panama's last major damaging earthquake struck in 1991, when a magnitude 7.4 quake centered in Costa Rica killed 23 people and left thousands homeless in the Bocas del Toro border region, per the AP. Authorities are now waiting for the tremors to subside before conducting structural inspections of damaged buildings, Emergency Operations Center director René García told CNN. The U.S. Embassy said it was closely monitoring the aftermath and accounting for the welfare of its citizens in Panama, a well-known retirement destination for Americans.