M6.6 Earthquake 14 km W of Río Grande, Panama — October 9, 2026
2026-10-09 20:25:39 UTC (1 hour ago) · approx. 3:25 PM UTC-5 local
Felt by 23 people across nearby locations. Maximum shaking intensity MMI 8.1 (violent).
On October 9, 2026 at 20:25 UTC, a magnitude 6.6 shallow crustal earthquake struck 14 km W of Río Grande, Panama, at a depth of 10.0 km and coordinates 7.7176°, -81.4687°. The earthquake was reported felt by 23 peopleacross nearby locations, with a maximum shaking intensity of Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) 8.1 (violent). The USGS PAGER system issued a yellow alert level for this event, indicating local impact possible. This earthquake was detected by 84 seismic stations with good location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 686, making it a moderate-impact event. The nearest populated place is Santiago (population 45,955).
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 120 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 22 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
Nearest Populated Places
ShakeMap — predicted shaking intensity
Modeled ground-motion intensity contoured on the Modified Mercalli scale (MMI). Computed by the USGS from the moment-tensor solution and regional ground-motion prediction equations.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap. View interactive ShakeMap on USGS
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from 23 citizen responses to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report
Population exposure (USGS PAGER)
Estimated population that experienced each level of shaking. Based on the USGS PAGER rapid impact assessment, which combines ShakeMap output with global population grids.
| Shaking intensity (MMI) | Description | Population exposed |
|---|---|---|
| MMI 4 | light | 801,252 |
| MMI 5 | moderate | 555,147 |
| MMI 6 | strong | 59,471 |
| MMI 7 | very strong | 11,075 |
| MMI 8 | severe | 413 |
Earthquake Details
-81.4687°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 6.6 earthquake near Río Grande, Panama?
The magnitude 6.6 earthquake that struck 14 km W of Río Grande, Panama on October 9, 2026 at 20:25 UTC had a depth of 10.0 km. It was felt by 23 people with maximum shaking intensity of MMI 8.1 (violent). For context, this was a strong earthquake capable of causing significant damage.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at 7.7176°, -81.4687°, which is 14 km W of Río Grande, Panama. The nearest populated place is Santiago (population 45,955).
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 6.6 earthquakes can continue for weeks to months and gradually diminish over time.
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us6000u19w). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2026, October 9, 2026). M6.6 Earthquake 14 km W of Río Grande, Panama — October 9, 2026. Retrieved October 9, 2026 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us6000u19w/