Earthquake of 5.2 in Albacete felt from Valencia to Murcia and inland to Madrid
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 @ 10:20 AM
PANIC broke out across mainland Spain last night as an earthquake of 5.2 on the Richter scale struck the province of Albacete – one degree higher than the devastating tremor which caused nine deaths, 324 injuries and thousands of homes to collapse in Lorca (Murcia) four years ago.
Such was the intensity of yesterday's quake that it was felt in the neighbouring provinces of Alicante and Murcia, to the east, Valencia to the north-east, Cuenca to the north, and even Madrid.
Its epicentre was traced to the town of Ossa de Montiel, but residents in Murcia said their whole buildings were 'swaying like jelly' and one woman said she felt her fourth-floor office in Valencia tremble.
Despite being of a higher Richter scale grading than the quake in Lorca in May 2011, nobody was hurt and no structural damage was caused – although in Ossa de Montiel itself, residents say they saw lamps and tables moving and window panes trembling.
In neighbouring provinces, people described running for doors in panic but, before reaching them, the ground-shaking had stopped.
It was even felt in Xaló (Jalón), just inland from the Costa Blanca.
An aftershock of 2.5 on the Richter scale followed, but this would have been little more than a momentary shudder rather than the 10 to 15 seconds of violent rocking near the epicentre during the first tremor.
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