Monday 12 October 2026 · Edition of the day

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The Skeptic's Daily

The day's biggest stories, taken apart. For each one: what is actually established, what is only asserted, the questions worth asking — and a plausibility score for the central claim, given everything currently known.

Stories
1
Average plausibility
74%
How to read the score
It rates how well the core claim is evidenced — not how important the story is, nor whether it is good or bad news.
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TopicAllPoliticsConflict & SecurityBusinessScienceHealth
01PoliticsSouth America

Panama declares emergency after earthquakes and repeated aftershocks

The Guardian reports an emergency declaration following two earthquakes that toppled buildings and prompted evacuations.

Panama's government declared a state of emergency on Saturday following two earthquakes on Friday, according to the Guardian. The report gives their magnitudes as 7.7 and 6.6 and says more than 100 aftershocks were recorded, reaching magnitude 5.8. Officials had not attributed any deaths to Friday's earthquakes in the supplied excerpt.

What holds up

  • ✓The Guardian's headline and summary consistently report a government emergency declaration.
  • ✓The supplied excerpt reports collapsed buildings and evacuations, alongside specific earthquake and aftershock figures.

What doesn't yet

  • ?No emergency decree or independent seismic record is included in the supplied material.
  • ?The excerpt is truncated, leaving injury figures and the full extent of damage unavailable; the reported absence of attributed deaths is not a final casualty assessment.

Ask before you share

  • →What areas and measures does the emergency declaration cover?
  • →Do updated seismic records and casualty assessments confirm the initial figures?

Sources & original reporting

  1. [1]The Guardian · Published 11 Oct 2026 · theguardian.com