Thursday, March 24, 2011

The earth shook in Torrevieja

imageAn earthquake of 3.1 on the RIchter scale shook the region south of the Vega del Segura and part of the Murcia region yesterday. Its epicentre was off the coast in the area called  Cabo de Palos. The quake was followed by aftershocks which shook tall buildings in Torrevieja.

As José Antonio Vidal, head of Civil Protection in Torrevieja, points out, small quakes like this mean that the tension between the tectonic plates is being released slowly rather than building up to a larger more powerful and potentially devastating quake. Modern buildings are designed to withstand shocks up to 5 with minimal damage.

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