A 4.1-magnitude earthquake has rocked a town in the Murcia area today, prompting panic among people in the area. The quake struck just before noon on Sunday local time (10.59am BST), with its epicentre in the town of Librilla, west of the city of Murcia.
The quake hit at a depth of just five kilometres, according to official readings from Spain’s Instituto Geografico Nacional. The shallow depth at which the tremor hit meant that many people in the town and nearby areas were able to feel it.
Following the quake, the Civil Protection issued an ES-Alert, a text informing people in the area that possible aftershocks could follow the initial tremor.
Concerned locals flooded the regional 112 line, the emergency number in Spain, after the tremor, with more than 80 calls being made by people living in areas including Murcia, Molina de Segura and Alhama, according to EuroWeekly.
Spanish news site Democrata reported the tremor being felt also in the Alicante province, filled with British tourists and expats.
No injuries or property damage were immediately reported.
Southeastern Spain, where Murcia is located, sits in an area of marked seismic activity. In December last year, a 4.9-magnitude quake off the coast of Fuengirola triggered more than 40 calls to Andalucía’s 112 emergency line.
In May 2011, two back-to-back earthquakes with magnitude 4.7 and 5.1 killed nine people and caused considerable damage in Lorca.