Panama 7.7M Earthquake Major Damage, Tsunami Threats

Published October 9, 2026 2:07 PM PDT

Panama was rocked by a massive earthquake Friday ... causing massive damage and triggering tsunami warnings.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the country was hit by a whopping 7.7-magnitude quake, with an epicenter that was just over 7 miles outside of Pitaloza Arriba.

The earthquake hit the Pacific side of Panama just before 1 PM local time ... and there have been more than a dozen recorded aftershocks.

No word yet on injuries ... but the USGS did say that about 4.6 million people experienced moderate to severe shaking.

Check out this wild video of the moment the quake hit during a live broadcast. You can see the announcers jump up and run for cover.

You can see the entire building violently shaking ... and it even sounds like some things are breaking in the quake.

This photo shows a pool that's been rocked so hard from seismic activity that it actually began to leak.

The quake was so bad that the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said there were potential threats of "hazardous tsunami waves" on some coasts in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Ecuador.