Aftershocks expected after earthquake in Torrevieja

EXPERTS have warned that aftershocks could be expected in the area in coming days following Sunday’s earthquake in Torrevieja.

They would be of less intensity than Sunday’s earthquake which measured 3.4 on the Richter scale, according to Alicante Pedro Jauregui University’s seismic unit.

At 5.43am the earth shook many residents awake in the Vega Baja area.

Many residents went outside of their homes as a precautionary measure. One resident said that the sound of the quake got ‘louder and louder, like an approaching train’ and the shaking made objects in his home move around.

It was felt in up to 11 surrounding municipalities. The fright on Sunday reminded many residents in the area to May last year’s magnitude 5.2 earthquake which destroyed much of Lorca town centre killing 9 people and injuring dozens more.

On this occasions there were no reports of damage or injuries caused by the quake, although Local Police and Guardia Civil received so many calls that their system collapsed.

None of them were for physical help, rather information about the earthquake. The town hall has designated a work group to elaborate on the municipality’s emergency action plan in case of earthquakes (PAM.RS).

This is because Torrevieja is situated in one of the most actively seismic areas of the Iberian Peninsula and earthquakes are relatively frequent.

However, they rarely exceed three on the Richter scale, making the one on Sunday one of the strongest quakes in recent years.

An earthquake of between three and 3.9 is considered minor; it is often felt, but rarely causes damage. There are an estimated 130,000 earthquakes worldwide each year of this magnitude.

Sunday’s earthquake’s epicentre was located five kilometres from the Torrevieja coast and was 11km deep.

This shallow-depth is probably why such a minor earthquake was felt so far afield as the seismic waves do not have as far to travel to reach the surface.

By Nicole Hallett

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