More than three days after a powerful earthquake shook the Azuero region on Friday, October 9, at least 600 people from Isla Cañas and Búcaro remain displaced across Los Santos province — sleeping in cattle shelters, on cardboard, or under improvised tents, with no date set for returning home.
What Happened
The earthquake struck Isla Cañas shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Friday. According to Demetrio Ríos, the corregimiento’s representative, the ground shook first, then the sea began rising in a way residents had never witnessed. With the island dependent on boats for transportation and time running out, the community organized its own evacuation, moving more than 300 people in under 40 minutes.
“Since I can remember, my parents and all our ancestors never lived through such a terrifying experience,” Ríos said, describing residents crowding onto boats as currents battered the vessels.
Evacuees like José Vergara recall leaving everything behind — homes, cooking utensils, food — as water entered places it had never reached before. “We didn’t even bring a spoon, my brother,” Vergara said. He now sleeps in a dairy shed that a rancher made available, sharing the space with other families while cattle remain outside.
The evacuees are sheltering in the sector of Sigua, where a farm has become a refuge. Families receive water and food from private citizens and public institutions, but authorities must still evaluate conditions on the island before authorizing any return.
In Búcaro, the danger comes not only from cracked walls but from a hillside threatening to drop stones onto homes near the coast. Esther Genoveva Oliva, a resident over 72 years old who suffers from glaucoma, described houses affected, deteriorated roads, and children and elderly people sleeping on the ground, on cardboard, or in hammocks. “We want solutions, we want solutions,” she demanded, calling on authorities to inspect homes and determine the risks.
In Tonosí center, merchant Nelson de León said supplies three days after the quake were still insufficient for those affected. Drinking water shortages rank among the main concerns, and supermarkets and other businesses are not operating at full capacity.
Background
Isla Cañas, in Tonosí district, Los Santos province, is an island community dependent on boats for transport and on agriculture for its livelihood. The corregimiento has more than one hundred farmers growing rice, corn, melon and watermelon. Ríos estimates that more than 80% of the island’s agricultural production was destroyed by the earthquake and the intrusion of saltwater.
Producer Zoraida Ballesteros said that, at the time of the interview, she had received no government assistance, with donations coming from private individuals, both Panamanians and foreigners. “We are Panamanians too and we are in need,” she said, calling on President José Raúl Mulino to evaluate damaged homes, compensate those who suffered losses, and support the recovery of production.
The region’s economy — built on agriculture, tourism and commerce — has been left exposed to the consequences of the disaster, with the total economic damage still to be determined.
What This Means for Panama
The emergency in Los Santos is far from over, and several urgent issues remain open. First, authorities have yet to complete evaluations of housing on Isla Cañas and in Búcaro, leaving hundreds of families in limbo about when — or whether — they can safely return.
Second, the destruction of the region’s crops means the disaster will outlast the displacement itself. Even once families can sleep under their own roofs again, farmers face the loss of harvests that represented both their work and their income. The question on the island, as residents put it, is no longer only when they can return, but what they will live on when they do.
Third, the threat is not static: residents and merchants warn that rains could trigger landslides in the mountains and further flooding from rivers, potentially worsening conditions for those sheltering in the open and for communities already damaged.
Watch for official housing inspections in Búcaro and Isla Cañas, statements from the Mulino administration on compensation for lost crops and homes, and the pace of humanitarian aid reaching Tonosí, where water and supplies remain limited.
This story was originally reported by La Prensa.