PANAMA CITY — Panama's government declared a state of emergency on Sunday after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the country's Pacific coast killed dozens of people and damaged buildings across western provinces.

The National Civil Protection System confirmed the quake struck Saturday off Chiriquí province at a shallow depth, according to the United States Geological Survey. Shaking was felt as far away as Panama City and across the border in Costa Rica.

Panama's Institute of Geosciences recorded a series of strong aftershocks through Sunday, prompting authorities to urge residents in Chiriquí and Veraguas to stay away from damaged structures. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an initial advisory before standing it down, confirming no destructive waves had formed.

President José Raúl Mulino said the government had mobilised the National Police, the Senafront border force and medical teams to the hardest-hit areas. Hospitals in David, the provincial capital of Chiriquí, treated injured people and assessed structural damage to several facilities.

Seismologists at the USGS noted the quake occurred along the boundary between the Cocos, Nazca and Caribbean plates, one of the most seismically active zones in Central America. Panama has historically suffered destructive quakes in the Chiriquí region, including a deadly tremor in 1934.