Sports broadcasters abandoned their microphones and scrambled for safety during a live television broadcast when a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Panama.
The earthquake hit at about 1pm local time on Friday, sending violent tremors across Panama’s southern coastline and triggering more than 80 aftershocks.
The epicentre was located near the small town of Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera province. The shallow quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres.
The US tsunami warning system issued alerts for parts of the eastern Pacific, including Mexico and Chile, although those warnings have since been lifted.
No deaths have been reported, but at least two people were injured.
Footage captured the moment the sports presenters fled as the earthquake sent the building shaking around them before the lights eventually went out.
The five presenters first exchanged bewildered looks as the walls and light fixtures behind them began visibly swaying.
As the shaking intensified, some dropped their microphones while others carried the equipment with them as they rose from their stools and rushed out of the building.
Five sports broadcasters were on live television when the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck
The presenters appeared puzzled as the walls and overhead lights began shaking violently
Within minutes, they had escaped to safety, some still carrying their microphones
The US Geological Survey initially measured the earthquake at magnitude 8.0 before revising the estimate to 7.7.
The powerful quake brought down buildings and damaged roads in central Panama yesterday. The shallow tremor was felt across the country, which has a population of about 4.5 million, according to the National Civil Protection System.
Rene Garcia, head of emergency operations, said there had been no reports of fatalities at that stage.
In Panama City, roughly 200 kilometres from the epicentre, panicked residents evacuated the city’s landmark skyscrapers.
Salomon Andion, 46, was forced to leave his 15-storey building for a second time after further aftershocks struck.
He said: ‘I was scared because the shaking was very strong and lasted a long time.
‘Heavy objects such as dressers, the bed and everything in the kitchen were shaking.’
A video widely circulated on social media showed water spilling from the rooftop pool of a building more than 20 storeys high.
Cars were left trapped beneath rubble after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Penonome
St John the Baptist Cathedral in Penonome was severely damaged during the tremours
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Another showed a bridge over the Panama Canal shaking violently, but remaining upright as vehicles travelled across it.
Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino said: ‘We are facing a major disaster,’ adding that some roads had ‘completely collapsed.’
Juana Alveo, a 38-year-old cashier at a store in the city of Penonome in central Cocle province, said: ‘It was horrible, like nothing we ever experienced. My daughter was trapped in school.’
The two injuries were reported by people trapped in different collapsed structures – one near a church in Veraguas, the other in a collapsed hotel in Cocle, authorities said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X on Friday that he was ‘closely monitoring’ the situation, with his office ‘rapidly mobilizing resources and personnel to assist,’ at the Panamanian government’s request.
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 that the most affected areas were the provinces of Herrera and Cocle, as well as Los Santos.
Rubble from the damaged buildings blocked roads in Panama after Friday’s earthquake
One building entirely collapsed on one side, leaving cars buried beneath the debris
He said the town of Tonosi in Los Santos was completely cut off, adding: ‘We are trying to figure out how to get there by air, because it’s impossible by land.’
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 of aid.
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 had completely collapsed.
A church and a hotel in Penonome also suffered extensive damage, images shared on local media showed.
More than 80 aftershocks, one above magnitude 6.0, were recorded by the local geosciences institute.
President Mulino called for calm, posting on X: ‘What happened should not be used to generate alarm and disorder,’ 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.
