Panama is confronting the full scale of damage from last Friday’s magnitude 7.5 earthquake, with authorities confirming that 35 schools were completely destroyed and the Ministry of Health announcing nearly $61 million to repair hospital facilities across the country. Officials moved quickly to reassure families that students will finish the 2026 school year despite the destruction.
What Happened
Education Minister Ventura Vega reported on Monday, October 12, that of the roughly 400 schools that suffered some damage from the earthquake, 35 educational centers were damaged beyond use. Those schools serve approximately 3,031 students.
The hardest-hit province was Herrera, with 20 schools completely damaged, followed by Veraguas with 7, Los Santos with 5, Coclé with 2, and Chiriquí with 1.
Vega said alternative arrangements will be put in place so students displaced from destroyed schools can complete the school year, noting that only 34 days of classes remain in the 2026 academic calendar. He stressed that no student will be left without instruction.
Private schools were cleared to resume in-person classes on Tuesday, October 13, though the minister urged administrators to confirm their facilities meet the necessary safety conditions before reopening. A list of official public schools unable to return to classes on Wednesday was set to be announced Tuesday.
On the health front, Health Minister Fernando Boyd Galindo said 67 of the country’s 842 medical facilities suffered damage. The Hospital de Tonosí was completely damaged and must be rebuilt entirely. Around $61 million will be allocated to address damage at hospital centers nationwide.
Hospitals including the Cecilio Castillero in Herrera, the Joaquín Franco Sayas in Los Santos, and the Aquilino Tejeira in Coclé, which have been operating temporarily in tents, will progressively return to their facilities once they are certified for use. Boyd Galindo added that the hemodialysis unit located in the former maternity ward of Santo Tomás Hospital suffered no major damage and services will resume once the affected area is cleaned.
Government Minister Dinoska Montalvo reported that some 1,700 homes have been affected and roughly 6,000 people have received assistance. Housing Minister Jaime Jované said work to address damage to the thousands of affected houses will begin this week.
Background
The magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Panama on Friday, shaking communities across several provinces and prompting a sweeping evaluation of public infrastructure. The affected provinces, Herrera, Veraguas, Los Santos, Coclé, and Chiriquí, form part of Panama’s central and western interior, a region that relies heavily on its network of public schools and regional hospitals.
Post-earthquake inspections are standard practice in Panama, where buildings must be structurally assessed before students and patients can safely return. The tent operations at regional hospitals reflect emergency protocols designed to keep medical services running while facilities are evaluated and repaired.
What This Means for Panama
The $61 million health-sector allocation represents a significant rebuilding effort for regional hospitals that serve populations far from Panama City, with the Tonosí hospital requiring complete reconstruction. For families in the affected provinces, the gradual return of hospitals to their permanent facilities will be a key milestone to watch.
In education, the immediate challenge is logistics: finding alternative spaces for more than 3,000 students with just over a month left in the school year. Parents should watch for the list of public schools that cannot reopen, expected to be published by the Ministry of Education, and confirm conditions at private schools before sending children back.
The housing response also kicks off this week, with the Ministry of Housing beginning work on some 1,700 affected homes. How quickly these three fronts, schools, hospitals, and housing, progress will shape recovery in the affected provinces in the weeks ahead.
This story was originally reported by La Prensa.