M5.2 earthquake reported near Las Tablas in Panama

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake was reported near Las Tablas in Panama at 10:50 local time (15:50 UTC) on Saturday, 31 October, according to a follow-up post from the LastQuake account.

LastQuake said the shaking was felt over a distance of more than 200 kilometres and estimated that about two million people in Panama experienced it. That is an account-reported estimate; the supplied material contains no official assessment of damage or injuries.

The GeoShake account placed the quake 4 kilometres south of Bajo Corral, in Los Santos province, and reported a depth of 10 kilometres. A separate post from HKOEARTHQUAKE5E gave a magnitude of 5.4 and the same 10-kilometre depth, indicating that estimates differed. The available reports do not establish which magnitude will be adopted in a later official assessment.

LastQuake’s earlier post described the event as an automatic, crowdsourced detection that had not yet been seismically verified. Its later post provided an event summary. No official statement confirming damage, casualties or the final magnitude was included in the supplied reporting.

A separate earlier earthquake

The 31 October tremor is distinct from the magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Herrera Province on 9 October. The Republican Herald reported on relief efforts for people affected by that earlier disaster; it is not evidence of consequences from Saturday’s quake.