Double quake kills 10 in Spain

Two earthquakes struck south-east Spain in quick succession, killing at least 10 people – the country’s highest quake-related death toll in more than 50 years - injuring dozens and causing major damage.

The epicentre of the quakes – with magnitudes of 4.4 and 5.2 – was close to the town of Lorca and the second came about two hours after the first, the Murcia regional government said.

Dozens of injured people were being treated at the scene and a field hospital was set up in the town of about 85,000 people.

About 270 patients at a hospital in Lorca were being evacuated by ambulance as a precaution after the building sustained minor damage, the Murcia government said.

The prime minister’s office put the death toll at 10 and the Murcia administration said the deaths included a child and occurred with the second, stronger quake.

Large chunks of stone and brick fell from the facade of a church in Lorca as a reporter for Spanish state TV was broadcasting live from the scene. A large church bell was also among the rubble, which missed striking the reporter, who appeared to be about 30ft away when it fell.

The broadcaster reported that schoolchildren usually gathered at that spot around that time and if it had happened 10 minutes later, a “tragedy” could have occurred.

Spanish TV showed images of cars that were partially crushed by falling rubble, and large cracks in buildings. Nervous groups of residents gathered, talking about what happened and calling relatives and friends on their mobile phones. An elderly woman appeared to be in shock and was seated in a chair as people tried to calm her.

“I felt a tremendously strong movement, followed by a lot of noise, and I was really frightened,” the newspaper El Pais quoted another Lorca resident Juani Avellanada as saying.

Juana Ruiz said her house split open with the quake and “all the furniture fell over”, according to El Pais.

Many residents decided to spend the night camped out in parks and other open spaces, fearing aftershocks and because of structural damage to their homes, according to state TV footage.

It was the deadliest quake in Spain since 1956 when 12 people died and 70 were injured in a quake in the southern Granada region, according to the National Geographic Institute.

It says Spain has about 2,500 quakes a year, but only a handful are actually noticed by people. Spain’s south and south east are the most earthquake-prone regions.

The US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Centre in Golden, Colorado, had slightly different magnitudes for the temblors.

John Bellini, a seismologist with the USGS centre, said the larger earthquake had a preliminary 5.3 magnitude and struck 220 miles south-south east of Madrid at 6.47pm (5.47pm BST).

The quake was about six miles deep and was preceded by the smaller one with a 4.5 magnitude in the same spot, Mr Bellini said. He classified the bigger quake as moderate and said it could cause structural damage to older buildings and masonry.

Lorca has a mix of buildings that are vulnerable to earthquakes and quake-resistant, according to the USGS.

The quakes occurred in a seismically active area near a large fault beneath the Mediterranean Sea where the European and African continents brush past each other, USGS seismologist Julie Dutton said.

The USGS said it has recorded hundreds of small quakes in the area since 1990.