A maternity ward in Panama City was among the buildings evacuated during the tremors.
A massive 7.7‑magnitude earthquake has struck Panama, damaging buildings and prompting a widespread tsunami warning for neighbouring countries.
The quake, occurring just before 15:00 local time (18:00 GMT), was felt by about 4.6 million people, the U.S. Geological Survey said, describing the effects as "likely to be widespread."
Its epicentre lay roughly 10 km from the small town of Pitaloza Arriba in south‑central Panama. The quake had a shallow depth of 12 km, a factor that typically increases surface damage.
Footage circulating online suggests collapsed structures in the towns of Penonomé and Soná, though none of it has yet been verified by the BBC.
A series of aftershocks has followed the main shock, and authorities are still assessing the full extent of the damage and whether there have been any casualties.
Many people were evacuated from buildings in Panama City, 124 miles from the epicentre, according to AFP. The earthquake occurred just three days before Panama’s scheduled national evacuation drill for a major quake.
The event follows earlier devastating earthquakes in Colombia and Venezuela earlier this year, underscoring the region’s seismic vulnerability.
