Influencer Gracie Bon Is Criticised for a Photoshoot in Front of Panama Earthquake Ruins

Panamanian influencer Gracie Bon has denied posing among earthquake ruins after photographs shared on Sunday, 11 October, drew criticism on Instagram. She said featuring herself in the images would draw more attention to communities hit by Panama's powerful earthquake.

The photographs appeared two days after the 9 October earthquake, which the US Geological Survey measured at magnitude 7.7. Bon urged her followers to support affected families, but commenters questioned why she appeared so prominently against damaged buildings.

Bon later explained that choosing a photograph showing her was deliberate, although she rejected claims that she staged a photoshoot.

Influencer Faces Questions Over Earthquake Ruins Photos

The pictures showed Bon standing and crouching near damaged structures, wearing blue jeans and a white top. Their setting became the focus of criticism from Instagram users who considered the images inappropriate during a national emergency.

Some questioned whether the photographs directed attention towards the disaster or towards Bon herself. Others accused her of treating the destruction as a backdrop for social media content.

Those comments expressed viewers' opinions. They did not establish Bon's intentions or demonstrate that she had profited from the disaster.

In her accompanying caption, Bon wrote that material possessions could be replaced, unlike human life. She asked followers to appreciate loved ones and help people affected by the earthquake.

Bon subsequently published a video defending the visit and explaining why she appeared in the photographs. According to BioBioChile's account of her Spanish‑language remarks, she said she had travelled to affected communities to provide assistance purchased with her own money.

'I am in the photo, but I am not posing,' Bon said, in remarks translated from Spanish. She said she chose an image that included her because it would have greater reach among her followers.

Bon also denied earning money from the emergency. She said she asked her team to document the visit and wanted to help rebuild homes for one or two families.

Those remain her reported claims. The available information does not independently establish how much assistance was delivered or whether any rebuilding took place.

She further argued that a video showing her distributing donations received less attention than the photograph that attracted criticism. The contrast, she suggested, showed why she had chosen to appear in the images.

Panama Quake Toll and Continuing Aftershocks

The controversy unfolded while Panamanian authorities were assessing widespread damage and assisting displaced residents.

In a 12 October national update, President José Raúl Mulino said 6,174 people had been affected and 1,744 homes assessed. Those figures described the government's findings at that stage, not a final count of destroyed properties.

The government declared a national state of emergency on Saturday, 10 October. Emergency personnel were deployed to provide food, water and other supplies, particularly in Herrera, Los Santos, Veraguas and Coclé.

Seismic activity also continued. The University of Panama's Institute of Geosciences recorded 305 detectable aftershocks by 11 p.m. on 11 October. Its estimate of the main earthquake's magnitude was 7.5, compared with the US Geological Survey's 7.7 reading.

The US agency recorded a further magnitude 6.1 earthquake near Río Grande on Monday, 12 October. The following day, Panama's government said it had begun transporting building materials to affected communities.

That recovery effort was the situation Bon said she wanted her audience to see. However, the photographs alone cannot establish who owned the damaged buildings or whether the images were deliberately staged.

While critics objected to her presentation, Bon continued to insist that the families affected deserved more attention than her appearance in the images.

She warned that social media users might soon forget the disputed photograph, while people who had lost their homes would still be living with the consequences.