Reply #15: Two Earthquakes Cause Major Damage in Spain [View All]

Two Earthquakes Cause Major Damage in Spain

MADRID – Two earthquakes struck southeast Spain in quick succession Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, injuring dozens and causing major damage to buildings, officials said. It was the highest quake-related death toll in Spain in more than 50 years.

The epicenter of the quakes -- with magnitudes of 4.4 and 5.2 -- was close to the town of Lorca, and the second came about two hours after the first, an official with the Murcia regional government said on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

Dozens of injured people were being treated at the scene and a field hospital was set up in the town of about 85,000 people, officials said. About 270 patients at a hospital in Lorca were being evacuated by ambulance as a precaution after the building sustained minor damage, the Murcia regional government said.


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/11/earthquakes-cause-major-damage-southern-spain/



Earthquake hits southern Spain --

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8508047/Earthquake-hits-southern-Spain-eight-dead.html


Didn't get to post this yesterday --

Larger quake 5.3 - 220 miles sse of Madrid - about 6 miles deep

Preceded by a smaller quake 4.5 magnitude in same spot --


The quakes occurred in a seismically active area near a large fault beneath the Mediterranean Sea where the European and African continents brush past each other, USGS seismologist Julie Dutton said.

The USGS said it has recorded hundreds of small quakes in the area since 1990.