Earthquake Rattles Border of Panama and Costa Rica

An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 on the Richter scale shook the border between Panama and Costa Rica this Saturday without harm or damage reported so far, according to authorities.

The Institute of Geosciences of the state University of Panama reported that the earthquake was recorded at 3:11 pm with a depth of 5 km and about 10 km west of the “Progreso” area, located in the Panamanian province Chiriquí, near the border with Costa Rica.  So far, Panama’s emergency services have not reported material damage or victims, while social media users have expressed that the earthquake was strongly felt in the towns bordering Costa Rica.  On the Costa Rican side, there are reports of falling objects in some supermarkets in that area. 

Panama and Costa Rica are located in the Pacific Belt or Ring of Fire, which concentrates some of the most important subduction zones (collapse of tectonic plates) in the world and is the scene of strong seismic activity.  Other countries such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada also make up the Belt, which is shaped like a horseshoe.