Borrowed time

The recent earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan serves as a reminder to people here of the quakes that have devastated this region in the past.

The earthquake of 1748 destroyed the church of Our Lady of Monserrate in Orihuela. The one in 1755 shook buildings in Guardamar and a further quake in 1823 added to the damage. However, it was the quake on the 21st and 23rd of March 1829 that did the most damage to the towns of Almoradi, Benjúzar, Rafal, Formentera, Rojales Torrevieja. Over a thousand people lost their lives during that disaster and between three and four thousand houses were ruined.

Nobody knows whether or when another quake will occur or indeed how powerful it will be. In that sense those of us in seismic regions are all living on borrowed time.