Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 7.7mww
12 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, Panama
- When
- Magnitude
- M 7.7 (mww)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 498 reports · strongest reported intensity IX
- Measured shaking
- intensity IX (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- red
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 hours ago
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake was recorded 12 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, Panama at 17:56 UTC on 2026-10-09. 498 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a major earthquake. Serious damage is likely near the epicentre. Follow official information from USGS and local authorities.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 817 km (508 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 megatons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 8.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Great Alaska earthquake 1964 M 9.2 180× the energy of this one
- Tōhoku, Japan 2011 M 9.1 130× the energy of this one
- San Francisco 1906 M 7.9 2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 7.7 about 5.4 megatons of TNT
- Ridgecrest, California 2019 M 7.1 this one released 7.9× more
- Loma Prieta, California 1989 M 6.9 this one released 16× more
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
Where
Epicentre 7.5868, -80.7690. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 4.8 14 km SSW of Tebario, Panama
- 5.0 19 km S of Leones Arriba, Panama
- 5.8 1 km S of El Cacao, Panama
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| felt reports | 481 | 498 | |
| felt reports | 448 | 481 | |
| measured intensity | 8.46 | 8.71 | |
| felt reports | 422 | 448 | |
| felt reports | 387 | 422 | |
| felt reports | 352 | 387 | |
| felt reports | 311 | 352 | |
| impact alert | pending | red | |
| felt reports | 300 | 311 | |
| reported intensity | 4.6 | 8.5 | |
| measured intensity | 8.37 | 8.46 | |
| felt reports | 17 | 300 |
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.