The residents of the small city of Penonomé, one of the areas most affected by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that shook Panama this Friday, October 9, They continue as night falls with adrenaline in their bodies while they keep an eye on their destroyed businesses.
One of the affected infrastructures It was a hotel with just four levels in the heart of that city, located more than two hundred kilometers west of the Panamanian capital.
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‘Nobody is prepared for this‘
People wait in a park after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that shook southeastern Panama. Photo:EFE
The façade and balconies of the hotel have collapsed. Part of the building fell on the cars parked at the base, making it impossible to move. despite not having destroyed them.
EFE spoke with two lodging workers who were inside when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake – according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS, for its acronym in English) – shook the Central American country.
“It was a great adrenaline rush. “No one is prepared for this (…) we were taking people out when we heard the infrastructure creak,” Eduardo González, a hotel worker, told EFE while he is on “guard duty” all night sitting in a beach chair in front of the hotel.
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González, like other neighbors, It is alert to the possibility of robberies throughout the night.
Although the strong earthquake, barely ten kilometers deep, Its epicenter was near the small coastal town of Tonosí, Almost one hundred kilometers from Penonomé, this small city was one of the most resentful areas.
“It was quite strong (…) I got into my car (vehicle), “But when I tried to leave, there were others behind me intercepting me and the concrete began to fall,” Another of the hotel workers told EFE, who preferred not to give his name.
Impacts on infrastructure
Image shared by Martinelli of his house in Soná. Photo:@Ricardomartinelli99
This other employee maintains, however, hoping your car doesn’t have major damage so that in the next few hours I can mobilize it.
The streets of the town They still house other neighbors in front of the doors of their buildings, grouped and calmly waiting for another of the more than one hundred aftershocks to occur. that have been registered since noon.
The patients of the main public hospital in the area remain, until now, under tents on the street and sleeping in beds with medical personnel caring for them.
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The main square, with the head church and marquee in its central part, it is cordoned off because one of the towers was affected.
In front of the tallest buildings in the city, The small single-level houses with the folkloric structure of the area have not suffered damage, as EFE could confirm.
According to the first official report of the Panamanian Government, The earthquake damaged almost all of the country’s water treatment plants, churches, hotels, businesses, public buildings and roads. But no fatalities have been reported so far, although some injuries have been reported in different parts of the country.
Ana de León – Agencia EFE.
