A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked Panama on Friday, collapsing buildings and roads in the centre of the country and injuring at least 27 people. No deaths have been reported.

The shallow tremor was felt across the Central American nation of about 4.5 million people, according to the National Civil Protection System. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 12:56 pm local time, with its epicentre 10 kilometres from the small town of Pitaloza Arriba in central Herrera province. The agency initially estimated the magnitude at 8.0 before revising it down to 7.7. A tsunami warning for the eastern Pacific was issued but later lifted.

“We are facing a major disaster”

President Jose Raul Mulino declared a major disaster, saying some roads had “completely collapsed”. Health Minister Fernando Boyd said the most affected provinces were Herrera and Cocle as well as Los Santos, adding that the town of Tonosi in Los Santos was completely cut off and could only be reached by air.

In Panama City, about 200 kilometres from the epicentre, residents rushed to evacuate the capital’s skyscrapers. A widely shared video showed water falling from a rooftop pool on a building more than 20 stories tall, while another clip showed a bridge over the Panama Canal shaking violently but remaining upright as vehicles crossed.

Salomon Andion, 46, evacuated his 15-storey building for the second time after aftershocks. “I was scared because the shaking was very strong and prolonged,” he told AFP. In Penonome, Cocle province, cashier Juana Alveo, 38, said her daughter had been trapped in school: “It was horrible, like nothing we ever experienced.”

Airport closed, canal still running

Panama City’s international airport, a major regional hub, was temporarily closed and several flights were diverted as a precaution. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was closely monitoring the situation, with his office mobilising resources at the Panamanian government’s request.

The Panama Canal Authority said shipping through the channel was unaffected and operating “as normal”. The education ministry suspended classes in schools nationwide, while former president Ricardo Martinelli posted pictures on Instagram of his house in Sona, Veraguas province, which collapsed.

More than 80 aftershocks — one above magnitude 6.0 — were recorded. Earthquakes are rare in Panama; the quake is at least the fourth in Latin America this year to exceed magnitude 7.0, after back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela’s Guaira in June and a powerful quake in western Colombia in August.