Two weeks after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck southern Panama, thousands of people remain in emergency shelters, more than 100 churches have reported damage, and relief convoys are still fanning out across the country's hardest-hit provinces.
The quake struck on October 9, with its epicentre northwest of the Tonosí district in Los Santos province, and was felt across much of the country, including the capital. Panama's National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc) said in an October 19 statement that the earthquake killed one person and injured 27, damaged more than 9,000 homes and left 3,827 people in shelters. The United Nations' weekly situation update, published October 23, put the number still in shelters at around 5,000. More than 27,000 people have reported damage to their homes, and over 400 aftershocks — including a magnitude 6.1 tremor on October 12 — have kept nerves on edge in Los Santos, Herrera, Veraguas and Coclé.
Landmarks among the ruins
The Panamanian Bishops' Conference reported that more than 100 Catholic churches, chapels and parish buildings sustained damage. Two were classified as totally destroyed: the St. Isidore the Farmer parish church in Soná and the Jesus of Nazareth Minor Basilica in Atalaya, both in the Diocese of Santiago de Veraguas. In Penonomé, St. John the Baptist Parish suffered cracked walls and damage to its bell tower; in Chitré, St. Athanasius Church lost the top level of its tower; in David, Our Lady of Remedies church reported sinking and tilting walls. Sinaproc has also reported damage to hundreds of schools.
A relief effort that crosses borders
Churches and aid groups have mobilised nationwide. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, through ADRA Panama, has opened collection centres across the country to distribute food, drinking water, mattresses, hygiene products and clothing, its Inter-American Division reported on October 23. Help is also arriving from the diaspora: a "United for Panama" campaign led by the Carvalho Family Foundation, working with New York Yankees player José "Chema" Caballero, his family foundation and Panama's consulate in New York, is collecting funds and supplies at drop-off centres across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for direct delivery to affected families.
Why it matters, and what happens next
The immediate emergency is giving way to a longer reconstruction problem: thousands of damaged homes to inspect, repair or rebuild, and historic churches that anchor small-town life now facing costly restoration. How quickly Panama's government converts damage assessments into rebuilding money — and how long families can be asked to live in shelters — will be the measure of the recovery in the months ahead.
*Reporting based on statements from Panama's National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc) via the Panamanian Bishops' Conference, UN OCHA's ReliefWeb and the Adventist Church's Inter-American Division.*