Earthquake in Madrid alarms citizens across Spain

AN EARTHQUAKE registered in Ossa de Montiel, Albacete, at 5.16pm this afternoon (February 23) was felt across much of the country.

With a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale, the quake lasted just 30 seconds but was reportedly felt by people in Madrid, Murcia, Castilla La Mancha, Valencia and Andalucia.

The National Geographic Institute has reported that the movement began at a depth of 10 kilometres underground, considered by the institute to be very superficial.

Emergency services confirmed that a number of calls were received after the quake, but structural damage had not been registered.

One of the most recent earthquakes of a similar size in Spain was that registered in Lorca, Murcia, in May 2011, which was felt across most of Andalucia and caused significant damage. Nine people lost their lives and 324 were injured as buildings collapsed.