Strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake shakes Panama, setting off panic in capital
Earthquake jolts Panama, details on damage yet to emerge
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake jolted Panama on Friday, setting off panic in the capital city and warnings of dangerous tsunami waves.
USGS said the quake was detected at 1756 GMT with an epicenter 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the small town of Pitaloza Arriba in the south-center of Panama. It initially measured at magnitude 8.
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The quake was registered at a shallow depth of 12 kilometers, meaning its impact was likely to be more severe.
Many people were evacuated from buildings in Panama City, about 200 kilometers away, AFP witnessed.
Visibly shaken residents gathered outside as they waited for news of the quake's impact.
"We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we're okay, though we're very scared," Rosendo Domínguez, 60, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press by phone. "Everyone is outside, scared."
Tsunami waves could hit coastlines in the eastern Pacific stretching from Mexico to Peru, the US Tsunami Warning System said.
"Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within the next three hours" in that area, the monitor said, warning that people could be swept out to sea or crushed by debris in the water.
