First Death Confirmed From Panama's M7.5 Earthquake
A 68-year-old woman died Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in a hospital in Panama City from injuries sustained in the earthquake that struck Panama at 12:56 p.m. local time (17:56 UTC) on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, becoming the first confirmed death linked to the quake. Panama's national health-insurance and hospital agency, the Caja del Seguro Social (CSS), confirmed the death in a statement carried by Paraguay's ABC Color. The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake at magnitude 7.7, centered 12 kilometers west-southwest of Pitaloza Arriba at a depth of about 12.6 kilometers, where Panama's Institute of Geosciences at the University of Panama puts the magnitude at 7.5.
"With deep sorrow, we confirm at 3:42 p.m. (20:42 GMT) the death of Mrs. Elena Barría, 68, who was seriously injured during the earthquake that occurred on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026," the CSS said.
Satellite data from NASA's NISAR mission and the U.S. Geological Survey showed how the ground moved along the fault during the Oct. 9, 2026, earthquake.
Family members told EFE, the wire service whose dispatch ABC Color carried, that Barría was diabetic and had lost a leg, and that she died of a natural heart attack after a successful operation for a perforated abdomen caused by the earthquake. Barría was from Macaracas, in Los Santos province; El Universo, an Ecuadorian outlet, reported that the abdominal injury occurred when her house collapsed during the quake. El Universal, a Mexican outlet, reported that her family complained that her treatment at the hospital was delayed.
The earthquake has directly affected more than 11,500 people, ABC Color reported. More than 2,800 people remained in 33 temporary shelters as of Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, after damage to at least 3,390 homes, of which 727 were destroyed. BioBioChile, a Chilean outlet, separately put the quake's injury total at about 30 people.
