Earthquakes in Panama, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 111 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Panama. 7 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.7 on October 9, 2026 (12 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, Panama).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 79 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.5 on October 18 (0 km NE of Río Grande, Panama). The strongest: magnitude 7.7 on October 9 (12 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, Panama).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.3 on July 13, 1974 (33 km SSW of Boca de Cupé, Panama), for which NOAA records 11 deaths. 17 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 18 in all. NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began in or off Panama, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 3 m, on April 22, 1991.
The events
- October 9, 2026Earthquake · M 7.712 km WSW of Pitaloza Arriba, PanamaUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 22, 1991Tsunami · 3 m hereLimon, PandoraNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 11, 1976Earthquake · M 6.739 km WSW of Jaqué, Panama · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 13, 1974Earthquake · M 7.333 km SSW of Boca de Cupé, Panama · 11 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 26, 1962Earthquake · M 7.259 km SSE of Burica, PanamaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- December 5, 1941Earthquake · M 7.570 km WSW of Golfito, Costa Rica · 6 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 18, 1934Earthquake · M 7.544 km ESE of Burica, PanamaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Panama when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Panama is the nearest country.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- The map frames the box around Panama, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history