Strong quake strikes in Pacific south of Panama – USGS

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Panama City – A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday in the Pacific Ocean south of Panama, and no casualties or damage were immediately reported, a civil defense official said.

“There are no reports of damage anywhere at this time; it just scared people a bit,” Civil Defense chief Arturo Alvarado told RPC Radio, adding that the epicenter was “quite far from the coast.”

The US Geological Survey reported that the quake struck at 6:45 pm (0045 GMT Monday) at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles). The epicenter was located 370 kilometers (230 miles) south of the Panamanian city of David.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said “no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists,” but warned that quakes of a similar magnitude can “sometimes generate local tsunamis in coastal areas near the epicenter.

Originally posted at 09:21 am | Monday, June 4, 2012