The IGN map shows the epicentres of recent tremors in eastern Almería. Credit: Instituto Geográfico Nacional
Residents from Arboleas to Mojácar were shaken by the last of three earthquakes to hit eastern Almería overnight, a magnitude 3.4 at 5.31am on Monday. No damage has been reported, although the strongest shaking was felt inside homes in Arboleas and Lubrín.
Three tremors in just over six hours
Residents across the Levante had a broken night, with three earthquakes recorded by the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN, Spain’s national seismology agency) between Sunday October 18 and dawn on Monday October 19.
The first struck at 11.09pm on Sunday, a magnitude 2.8 with its epicentre in Bédar, and was felt in around ten municipalities including Zurgena, Lubrín, Albox, Huércal-Overa and Vera. At 4.25am, a much smaller 1.9 followed in the same village.
However, it was the third, at 5.31am, that woke several neighbours across the area. The 3.4 earthquake was located north-west of Los Gallardos, roughly six kilometres from the Bédar tremors, and the IGN lists it as very shallow, which usually means the quake is felt much stronger at the surface.
Arboleas and Lubrín felt it most
As many already know, the magnitude of an earthquake measures the energy released at the source, while the intensity (graded from I to XII on the European Macroseismic Scale) describes how strongly a quake was felt in each place. The IGN gave the Los Gallardos earthquake a maximum intensity of IV, recorded in Arboleas and Lubrín, including the hamlets of Venta Mateo and El Sacristán. At that level, people indoors feel vibrations, doors and windows knock and objects move, though damage isn’t expected.
A step below, intensity III-IV was recorded in Albox, Cuevas del Almanzora (including Palomares), Huércal-Overa and Fines. Bédar, Cantoria, Carboneras, Líjar and Los Gallardos itself registered III, while Antas, Zurgena, Olula del Río, Vera and Purchena registered II-III.
Further out, the shaking was weaker still in Garrucha, Turre, Mojácar, Sorbas, Senés and Serón. In total, more than 20 municipalities felt it, from the coast to the inland Almanzora valley.
No damage has been reported
No injuries or damage to homes have been reported so far, which is what you’d expect from an earthquake of this size. However, the IGN is still collecting information on what people felt. A macroseismic questionnaire (an online form where residents describe what they felt, what they were doing and whether anything in their home was damaged) is available on its website for the Los Gallardos earthquake.
It’s the latest of several tremors this year
Eastern Almería has felt a run of small earthquakes in recent months. A magnitude 3.7 tremor was felt around Zurgena on Thursday August 13, and a 2.8 east of Garrucha on Tuesday September 29 reached intensity IV in Cuevas del Almanzora.
Earlier this year, a magnitude 4.2 near Tabernas on Monday February 16 was felt across the province and into Murcia, Jaén and Granada. Almería sits close to the boundary between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, so small earthquakes are common and the occasional stronger one is noticed over a wide area.
Any further tremors will be logged on the IGN website. So if you felt any of last night’s three, the questionnaire is still open, and every response helps build a picture of how far each one was noticed.