Last Wednesday, Murcia was shaken by an earthquake which was due to the interaction between two tectonic plates: the Iberian plate and the African plate.
Experts believe that the continuous movement of these plates of the earth’s crust is exactly what turns Peninsula’s southeast into a seismically active zone.
According to the “Instituto Geográfico Nacional” it was a 4.5 magnitude earthquake in Richter’s scale. This earthquake took place about 17:05 hours and then Lorca town (Murcia) started shaking. Unfortunately, this catastrophe had its epicentre in Lorca’s northeast so it was followed by a 5.1 aftershock which was even more destructive.
Yesterday throughout the afternoon and evening there were some more aftershocks, including a 3.9 degrees earthquake. Sources of “Red Sísmica del Instituto Geográfico” affirm that the strongest earthquakes here were registered on southeast Spain at least 500 years ago.
Experts pointed out that the second earthquake was “probably” the main earthquake. It meant that according to scientific terminology the first one (which began at 17:05 pm) could be classified as a premonitory earth temblor. Both eartquakes have also got to Murcia, Albacete, Almería, Jaén, Granada, Málaga and Sevilla, but in a smoothest way.
Natural hazards technician from the Delegation of the Government of Murcia Sofía González has explained that Lorca’s earthquake has caused many deaths and hundreds of injured so far, considering that it released energy similar to energy produced by 2 million Kg of explosives.
For his part, Jaén University geologist Juan Jiménez has pointed out that earthquakes which took place last Wednesday are related to the activity of Alhama’s fault in Murcia. This fault belongs to a great system of faults situated in northeast-southeast, which is extended from Almería to Alicante and it’s known as Trans-Alborán shear zone. Its global movement system is similar to the system developed by San Andres’ fault in California, although the first one has a lower magnitude. Trans-Alborán shear zone makes the southeast Iberian Peninsula segment move progressively to the northeast.
The length and continuity of this fault system is the largest of the Baetic system so, it has become the most propitious system to generating large earthquakes. During all these years many earthquakes have taken place in these zone so they confirm that in Spain south coasts and North Africa there’s a high risk of earthquakes. According to Jiménez, the high destructive effect of last Wednesday earthquakes is due to a simple fact: the hypocentre (depth where the earthquake is situated) is less than 1 Km away, according to the first seismic data
Experts believe that the continuous movement of these plates of the earth’s crust is exactly what turns Peninsula’s southeast into a seismically active zone.
According to the “Instituto Geográfico Nacional” it was a 4.5 magnitude earthquake in Richter’s scale. This earthquake took place about 17:05 hours and then Lorca town (Murcia) started shaking. Unfortunately, this catastrophe had its epicentre in Lorca’s northeast so it was followed by a 5.1 aftershock which was even more destructive.
Yesterday throughout the afternoon and evening there were some more aftershocks, including a 3.9 degrees earthquake. Sources of “Red Sísmica del Instituto Geográfico” affirm that the strongest earthquakes here were registered on southeast Spain at least 500 years ago.
Experts pointed out that the second earthquake was “probably” the main earthquake. It meant that according to scientific terminology the first one (which began at 17:05 pm) could be classified as a premonitory earth temblor. Both eartquakes have also got to Murcia, Albacete, Almería, Jaén, Granada, Málaga and Sevilla, but in a smoothest way.
Natural hazards technician from the Delegation of the Government of Murcia Sofía González has explained that Lorca’s earthquake has caused many deaths and hundreds of injured so far, considering that it released energy similar to energy produced by 2 million Kg of explosives.
For his part, Jaén University geologist Juan Jiménez has pointed out that earthquakes which took place last Wednesday are related to the activity of Alhama’s fault in Murcia. This fault belongs to a great system of faults situated in northeast-southeast, which is extended from Almería to Alicante and it’s known as Trans-Alborán shear zone. Its global movement system is similar to the system developed by San Andres’ fault in California, although the first one has a lower magnitude. Trans-Alborán shear zone makes the southeast Iberian Peninsula segment move progressively to the northeast.
The length and continuity of this fault system is the largest of the Baetic system so, it has become the most propitious system to generating large earthquakes. During all these years many earthquakes have taken place in these zone so they confirm that in Spain south coasts and North Africa there’s a high risk of earthquakes. According to Jiménez, the high destructive effect of last Wednesday earthquakes is due to a simple fact: the hypocentre (depth where the earthquake is situated) is less than 1 Km away, according to the first seismic data
In my opinion, this has been a tragedy! Lives of all those people have changed overnight and that's the worst thing which can happen to anyone's life! I don't know if I could handle all this pain! I truly hope they can get their old lives back, or at least a similar ones, as soon as possible! All my thoughts are with them right now! Let's hope Goverment help them in everything it can! I wish them the best!:)
If you are interested in earthquakes I have pasted into this page a link of “Muy Intesesante” magazine which talks about the largest earthquakes of all the time.
http://www.muyinteresante.es/los-cinco-terremotos-mas-intensos-de-la-historia
http://www.muyinteresante.es/los-cinco-terremotos-mas-intensos-de-la-historia
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