It woke us up @ 4AM and seemed to go on forever, but outside of a bit of rattling it was ok. Remember it was 15 miles down under the ocean. Just the same I'd bet a bunch of walls fell over --which probably says more about the walls than the quake. (Not as many trial lawyers here so liability ain't what it is back home.)
As far as the canal goes remember it was designed (like my house) by American engineers so they shouldn't have any problems.