Panama struck by magnitude 7.7 earthquake, U.S. Geological Survey says

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck near Panama's southern tip on Friday morning, shaking buildings more than 100 miles away in the capital and prompting evacuations, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was centered about 7 miles southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba, the USGS said. It struck at a depth of about 7 miles.

"We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we're OK, 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."

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino called for calm on Friday, writing on social media: "What happened should not be used to cause alarm or disorder."

Omar Smith of the National Civil Protection Service said on the Telemetro Reporta news channel that damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera and Los Santos. He said there were no reports of damage in the capital, which is known for its hundreds of skyscrapers.

Video aired by local news outlets showed a Catholic cathedral collapsing and part of a hotel's facade falling onto a car in the city of Penonomé, in the central province of Coclé. No casualties were immediately reported.

Panama lies along the "Ring of Fire," a 25,000-mile arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin, where most of the world's earthquakes occur.

Panama's Civil Protection said it was investigating possible damage in regions near the epicenter.

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