Panama Earthquake Situation Update

Panama sits on the boundary between the Cocos, Nazca and Caribbean plates and records a steady run of moderate earthquakes: PRISM's disaster alert archive, read on 13 October 2026, holds 259 GDACS alerts for the country since 2004, of which 3 reached orange and none red, and 11 earthquake alerts in 2026, 6 of them from this sequence, including the mainshock as the only orange alert of the year. At 12:56 on 9 October 2026 a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck at a depth of 12.6 km, 12 km west-south-west of Pitaloza Arriba in Los Santos, according to USGS, which classifies the mechanism as left-lateral strike-slip; the Institute of Geosciences of the University of Panama records it at magnitude 7.6, 39 km north-west of Tonosí and 4 km deep, as carried by OCHA. USGS PAGER estimates 3,885 people in areas of severe shaking (MMI VIII), 76,835 in very strong shaking (VII) and 567,390 in strong shaking (VI), and rates the event orange for economic losses and yellow for fatalities. The sequence continued with aftershocks of magnitude 6.6 at 15:25 and 6.0 at 23:14 on 9 October and 6.1 at 18:20 on 12 October; USGS lists 75 events of magnitude 4.0 or more within 250 km of the epicentre by the morning of 13 October, and IGC-UP more than 350 aftershocks of all sizes.

According to SINAPROC's Official Communiqué No. 9 with data to 22:00 on 12 October, reported by TVN Noticias, 2,164 families, or 7,480 people, are affected in 9 provinces: 506 families with the total loss of their home, 507 with moderate damage, 776 with partial damage and 375 with minor damage, with 31 pregnant women and 290 persons with disabilities among them. OCHA Situation Report No. 3, as of 14:30 the same day, counts some 1,250 affected homes, mostly in Los Santos, Veraguas, Coclé and Herrera, 27 people injured and no deaths or missing people, 619 educational centres and 29 health facilities affected, 16 bridges damaged, and more than 800 people in shelters, mostly in Veraguas, Colón and Los Santos. PAHO/WHO, cited by OCHA, puts 478,000 people in areas that felt very strong shaking or stronger and around 41,000 where moderate to heavy damage is expected. UNICEF estimates 38,000 people, including 8,300 children, in need of humanitarian assistance.

The Government declared a national state of emergency on 10 October and leads the response through SINAPROC and the National Emergency Operations Centre; by 12 October it had mobilised some 1,200 SINAPROC personnel, nearly 2,000 from SENAN and SENAFRONT and 13,000 police, flown in more than 30 tonnes of aid and delivered 170 tonnes of water, per OCHA, and by 22:00 that day SINAPROC reported more than 112,270 lb of aid moved by air and 273 tonnes by land to more than 46 communities, per TVN. The UN Emergency Technical Team coordinates international support after the Government accepted UN assistance: UNHCR has sent 16.8 tonnes of relief items, UNICEF 16 tents to the Ministry of Health, the Panamanian Red Cross 15 tonnes of aid from the IFRC hub, and the United States a 20-person Disaster Assistance Response Team with 2 helicopters. The bridge over the Oria River is closed to all vehicles, the ground shifted by up to 2 metres on the roads to Búcaro and Mariato, rain has already disrupted care in tents outside Anita Moreno Hospital, and heavy rain is forecast for the worst-hit areas.

Chronology of the Earthquake

The mainshock and its 3 largest aftershocks fell within 30 hours; the state of emergency followed within 24 hours of the mainshock, and the damage count rose with each SINAPROC communiqué through 12 October. The curve behind the strip is the cumulative count of USGS-catalogued events of magnitude 4.0 or more. Select a marker to read the event.

Geography of Damage

Damage is concentrated in the 4 central provinces around the epicentre, Los Santos, Veraguas, Herrera and Coclé, with lighter damage reported in 5 more provinces and 2 Indigenous territories. According to OCHA Situation Report No. 3, Los Santos has 421 affected homes and 1,500 people affected, Veraguas more than 305 homes, Coclé 229 and Herrera 206; Chiriquí reports 75 homes and 87 schools, Colón 7 homes and 19 tenement buildings, Panamá Oeste 21 homes. OCHA notes that soil type partly explains why Chitré in Herrera and Penonomé in Coclé suffered more damage than areas closer to the epicentre. Copernicus EMS activation EMSR934 graded Santiago de Veraguas from satellite imagery on 12 October and found 4 non-residential buildings damaged and 4 possibly damaged, including the Santiago Apóstol cathedral, with no visible damage on 2,240 road segments.

Exposure to Shaking

USGS PAGER, in the model revised on 12 October, places 3.4 million people in Panama in areas that felt moderate shaking or stronger (MMI V and above), including 3,885 at MMI VIII, 76,835 at VII and 567,390 at VI, according to USGS PAGER. A further 380,603 people in Costa Rica and 1.2 million in Panama were in areas of light shaking (MMI IV). PAGER rates the event orange for economic losses, with a 34% probability of losses between US$100 million and US$1 billion, and yellow for fatalities, with a 38% probability of 1 to 10 deaths and a 34% probability of 10 to 100.

Shelter and Displacement

According to OCHA, as of 12 October more than 800 people remain in shelters: more than 310 in 5 shelters in Veraguas, 3 in Soná and 2 in Mariato; 257 at the Barrio Norte sports centre in Colón; and some 30 at the IFARHU offices in Penonomé and the municipal gym in Natá, in Coclé. Some 193 people displaced from Isla de Cañas are staying at 3 makeshift sites in Cañas, 118 in the Lando Plata shed in Cirua, 45 in Loma de Aguabuena behind the school and 30 at a third site yet to be confirmed, including 8 children and 2 babies, and some families are sleeping in fields. In Búcaro, Los Santos, residents whose homes were destroyed are staying at the entrance to the village. OCHA states that shelter figures exclude families sleeping in parks or fields or staying with relatives, and that many families are sleeping outdoors for fear of aftershocks.

SINAPROC's communiqué of 12 October at 22:00, per TVN, classes the 2,164 affected families by the damage to their homes: 506 total losses, 507 moderate, 776 partial and 375 minor. The Ministry of Housing and SINAPROC are carrying out a census of affected families, debris removal began on 12 October, and the Government plans to start building the first earthquake-resistant homes during the week of 12 October, according to OCHA. UNHCR is arranging the delivery of 540 sleeping mats, 520 blankets, 250 kitchen sets, 500 mosquito nets and 250 plastic tarpaulins to the Los Santos Mayor's Office and the Herrera Governor's Office, and IOM is identifying protection, shelter and non-food item needs on the ground.

Protection of Affected People

SINAPROC counts 31 pregnant women and 290 persons with disabilities among the 7,480 people affected as of 12 October, per TVN. UNFPA, applying national demographic indicators to the USGS exposure estimate, projects that the exposed population includes about 9,500 women of reproductive age, 2,500 adolescent girls and 7,000 persons with disabilities, that around 165 women in the most exposed areas could give birth in the month after the earthquake and that around 25 could experience obstetric complications requiring timely care; UNFPA states these are planning estimates of potential need and will be revised as official data become available. The displaced families from Isla de Cañas need safe shelter, food, clothing, baby and toddler items, diapers and insect repellent, and in La Colorada, Los Santos, people need mosquito nets, repellent, tarpaulins and diapers for children and adults, according to OCHA.

UNICEF reports children and adolescents experiencing emotional impacts who require mental health and psychosocial support, and sets as priorities the identification of separated or unaccompanied children and referral mechanisms, child-friendly spaces and the prevention of violence, exploitation and abuse; it is running a rapid survey to guide that support. UN Women is carrying out a rapid gender analysis and keeping in touch with local care committees, and UNFPA, as GBV coordination lead, is reviewing dignity kit and reproductive health kit stocks at the regional humanitarian hub in Panama for deployment, per UNFPA. PAHO/WHO coordinates the inter-agency mental health committee, which has mobilised psychologists' associations to support staff at the Cecilio Castillero, Anita Moreno and Joaquín Pablo Franco Sayas hospitals, and the Ministry of Health has opened the 147 emotional support line with sign language interpreters, according to OCHA.

Humanitarian Response

The Government of Panama leads the response, which SINAPROC coordinates through the National Emergency Operations Centre; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates offers of international assistance, and the UN system supports through the UN Emergency Technical Team led by the Resident Coordinator with OCHA, according to OCHA. SINAPROC had assessed 1,293 homes by 12 October at 14:30. The Government is collecting donations at Parque Omar in Panama City and in Chiriquí, Coclé, Herrera, Los Santos and Veraguas. The Ministry of Public Works has cleared landslides at Los Flores on the Las Tablas to Tonosí road and in Los Pozos, Herrera, and is assessing the bridge over the Tonosí River and the road to Búcaro; UNOPS has assigned contractors' machinery under its agreement with the ministry and reopened roads in Altos de Jesús and Guacamaya in the Ngäbe-Buglé territory, with clearing under way in Soná, Santiago, La Mesa and Atalaya since 12 October.

Health, Water and Sanitation

According to OCHA, 29 health facilities are affected and at least 3 health centres are out of service: Cerro Viejo in Chiriquí, Canto del Llano in Veraguas and Palenque in Colón. Tonosí Hospital lost its pharmacy, evacuated some patients by air and is treating patients in temporary facilities, as is the La Colorada health sub-centre; Antón Maternity Centre in Coclé moved its patients to the car park, Sergio Núñez Hospital in Ocú is treating patients outside because its paediatric ward was damaged, and a 1956 building at Santo Tomás Hospital in Panama City is no longer usable, with more than 40 patients evacuated from the former maternity ward and 405 dialysis patients reassigned. Aquilino Tejeira Hospital in Penonomé can use its building again and Luis "Chicho" Fábrega Hospital in Santiago is returning to normal services; Cecilio Castillero Hospital in Chitré and Joaquín Pablo Franco Sayas Hospital in Las Tablas are still being assessed, and the Government expects to finish assessing all affected facilities by 14 October. The Social Security Fund has closed 4 facilities until further notice, in Panama City, Chitré, Los Pozos and Tonosí, and suspended outpatient services on 12 and 13 October in Herrera, Los Santos and Aguadulce.

Water treatment plants are back to full capacity, but water is still not reaching all homes, schools, health facilities and shelters normally, and 11 townships of Tonosí remain without water or power, per OCHA. UNICEF reports damage to aqueducts in Soná and Mariato, water infrastructure in Chiriquí and irregular access in Las Minas, Los Pozos and Ocú in Herrera, where some families also lack a safe place to sleep, and lists drinking water, portable toilets, generators and fuel among the health sector's needs, with the Joaquín Pablo Franco and Anita Moreno hospitals in Los Santos requiring portable toilets for their external care areas. UNFPA notes that several treatment plants stopped or reduced production because of power failures, and that reduced access to safe water affects facilities' ability to provide safe deliveries and infection prevention.

Education

The count of affected educational facilities rose from 419 in SINAPROC's communiqué of 10 October, carried by UNICEF, to 619 in OCHA's report of 12 October and 656 in the preliminary government count UNICEF cites in its release of 12 October. Reported damage ranges from cracks to severe structural damage, including the collapse of a 3-classroom block at El Guabino school in Chiriquí, unsafe areas at Los Planes de Gualaca and Tambor schools, a fallen water tank at a school in Tebario, Mariato, and broken sanitation and drinking-water pipes at Árabe de Egipto school in Panama Norte. The Ministry of Education suspended classes in public and private schools on 12 October for inspections, with resumption dependent on their results, and suspended the early childhood care centres the same day; UNICEF and the ministry have begun a rapid assessment of priority schools in Coclé, Herrera, Los Santos and Veraguas. The number of affected students is unknown.

Country Context

The earthquake struck a country that PRISM's baselines place at medium risk and low humanitarian severity. PRISM's country hub, read on 13 October 2026, carries an INFORM Risk score of 4.0 of 10, rank 81 of 191 countries (EC JRC, 2026), and an ACAPS INFORM Severity of 3.8, low, for the displacement from Venezuela to Panama, the country's only crisis on that index. IDMC figures preserved by PRISM record 439 new disaster displacements in Panama in 2025, after 2,103 in 2024, 26 in 2023, 461 in 2022 and 2,222 in 2021. PRISM's GDACS archive holds 259 alerts for Panama since 2004, 256 green and 3 orange; the 2026 record is 11 earthquake alerts, 6 of them from this sequence, and 2 flood alerts. IFRC's GO platform lists 41 appeals for Panama, the latest a DREF operation for floods on 26 August 2026 at CHF 328,289 for 3,665 people; IFRC stated on 10 October that its global mechanisms are available for activation on the basis of the damage assessment.