A preliminary magnitude 7.7 earthquake has rocked southern Panama, the US Geological Survey says. Officials stated there have been some instances of minor injuries but no reports of fatalities or missing people so yet. The civil protection system said a number of residences, highways, hotels, government buildings, businesses and churches incurred structural damage.
Some deaths were possible, and substantial damage was likely, warned the USGS. There were 147 aftershocks after the quake, Emergency Operations Center director René García told CNN. Some of those aftershocks reached magnitudes as high as 6.1 and 6.6.
“We are waiting for the aftershocks to finish before doing structural inspections of the damaged buildings,” García added. The heaviest damage has been in Coclé province on the southern coast of the country, but some has been reported in the capital, Panama City.CNN-verified video shows multiple damaged structures in Penonome, around 70 miles from the epicentre. A video shows a church with a steeple partially collapsed and another building with a broken exterior.
In the popular resort town of Playa Venao, a multi-floor structure fell down, crushing several automobiles underneath. The suspension cables of the Centennial Bridge along the Panama Canal swayed as cars passed underneath.
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