An earthquake on the Orihuela coast was widely felt among the population at 8:55pm on Sunday. With a magnitude of 2.6, it initially stood at 2.9, although it may be modified in the coming hours depending on the data collected by the National Seismic Network and the National Geographic Institute. The epicentre was located in the sea, six kilometers deep, off the coast of Cabo Cervera, in Torrevieja.
The tremor was felt by many residents of Torrevieja, Guardamar, Los Montesinos, Orihuela Costa, San Miguel de Salinas, San Fulgencio and Rojales. Minutes after the earthquake and in a short period of time, another three micro-earthquakes occurred in the same area.
Subsequently, another fifth tremor of greater intensity was registered at 4.07am on Monday morning with magnitude 2.5 which shook many residents awake.
It is one of the hundreds of micro-earthquakes that occur in the Vega Baja throughout the year. Normally, only those that exceed magnitude 2 are felt by the population, earth tremors are very familiar to local residents.
In addition to the magnitude, seismologists measure the intensity of the earthquake, which evaluates how the population has felt and the damage it causes. Sunday’s quake has been set as a grade III of a scale of XII, which is “weak”, according to information from the National Seismic Network.
The Bajo Segura is one of the areas of Spain with the highest seismic risk in Spain. The last tremor of medium intensity occurred on 24th March, 2019 off the coast of Cape Palos in Murcia, where the IGN registered 4.3 on the Richter seismic scale, according to Efe.