Panama’s Quake Crisis Exposes the Gap Between Official Calm and Public Fear

Panama’s Quake Crisis Exposes the Gap Between Official Calm and Public Fear
Panama was jolted into an emergency on Friday when a powerful earthquake and a major aftershock damaged buildings and roads, emptied schools and homes, and briefly raised fears of a tsunami. The immediate crisis eased when the warning was lifted, but the scale of public alarm outpaced the government’s early assurances.

The magnitude remains subject to revision: the USGS and one account described the first quake as 7.7, while another reported 7.6. Reports also differed on the strength of the second shock, listing it at 6.6 or 6.0. Those discrepancies did not diminish its impact. Residents in Panama City fled shaking buildings, while damage was concentrated in Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos. Penonomé reported a partial collapse, cracks at its cathedral and damage to government and hotel buildings. A historic church in Los Santos was also reported collapsed.

The liberal accounts emphasized the breadth of the disruption: more than 45 aftershocks were recorded, roads split open, Tocumen International Airport briefly suspended operations and teams inspected the Panama Canal. They also stressed that authorities had not initially recorded deaths, although injuries and further damage remained possible. President José Raúl Mulino acknowledged the uncertainty, saying, “Nobody was ready, and no one is ever ready for this type of disaster.”

The conservative coverage placed greater emphasis on the tsunami response and the unsettled mood along the coast. It reported unusual sea drawdowns and wave changes of 12 to 40 inches before the warning was lifted. A separate headline captured the public reaction more starkly: “Unnerved Panamanians sleep in streets as aftershocks rattle quake-hit towns.”

Both perspectives describe a fast-moving disaster in which official control was partial rather than complete. Mulino urged that the event not be used to “generate alarm and disorder,” while Washington said it was mobilizing assistance at Panama’s request. The contrast is telling: authorities sought calm, but repeated aftershocks, conflicting measurements and visible damage made reassurance difficult to sustain.