Earthquake 6.6 South Of Panama At 6:45 PM This Evening

Hi Don,

First, let me say that I find your articles very interesting, and as a future expat (from Canada) – I read them regularly.

There appears to be numerous earthquakes in and around Panama. I understand how a tsunami would definitely change the consequences of a quake, but from what I read the quakes don’t seem to have a big impact on the people. Also, from what I have read, there seems to have been only one tsunami warning; and that was in March 2011.

I wonder if we should be concerned, or does one simply get used to the quakes?

The plates around Panama don't seem to be "locked up." From my point of view you don't have to be worried about moving somewhere that regularly sees little earthquakes in the 4.5 scale. The one you really need to worry about is the 9.5 sucker that only goes off every 500 years or so. For example, you could not pay me enough money to move to Seattle. Really. I mean it. If someone offered me a job making $1 million dollars per year, I would not move there. They are long overdue for a massive earthquake that - when it finally does go off - is going to knock down every building in a 200 mile radius. And if that's not enough, when this puppy goes off, Mount Rainier - considered one of the "most dangerous volcanoes in the world" - instantly becomes an active volcano again. And then there's the massive tsunami that get's triggered by the 9.0+ earthquake just off shore. So let's see, to recap - everything falls down in the massive earthquake, then you get buried in the 30+ meter tsunami by sea water and sand, and then you get buried by a pyroclastic flow and volcanic ash. Yeah, sure. Let's all live in Seattle ... Oh, sorry. Yeah, Panama is safe. Don't sweat it, relatively speaking.