Powerful earthquake rocks Spain and Portugal
A freak earthquake has rocked Spain and Portugal during the summer holidays.
The earthquake hit in the Atlantic Ocean almost five miles southeast from Portugal’s capital Lisbon today.
The estimated 5.4 magnitude earthquake – meaning moderate on the Richter scale – was detected in the early hours of the morning, Euronews reports citing the US Geophysical Institute and the Euroe-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
It was reportedly felt as far as the country’s second city Porto, Spain and Morocco.
The earthquake epicentre was located 36 miles west of the town of Sines at a depth of around 11 miles below the seabed.
While the tremors were felt across the region, there were no immediate reports of serious damage, injuries or tsunami warnings in Spain, the Euro Weekly News reports.
José Miranda, a commander at the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, said: ‘We received a lot of calls, especially from people who wanted to know what was going on and what they should do. At this time [06:00] we still haven’t managed to count the number of calls received.’
Today’s quake is the strongest one recorded in the region in 15 years, the outlet reports citing seismologists.
In 1755, a series of devastating earthquakes damaged the Lisbon port and killed around 60,000 people in the city alone.
The 1969 earthquake in Portugal
A powerful quake hit on February 28, 1969, at the strait of Gibraltar, reaching 7.8 magnitude.
It killed 13 people across Morocco and Portugal, while 80 were injured.
Despite the intensity of the quake, hardly any damage was reported.
The 1969 incident was the largest quake in Portugal since the 1755 disaster.
Portugal is known for surfing, including big waves at famous beaches such as Nazare where the biggest ever wave surfed measured 93.73 feet.
It appeared business as usual in the water at popular spots like Ericeira and Nazare hours after the earthquake, with surfers seen in the water at Ericeira on surf cameras.
Earthquakes between 5.0 and 5.9 are considered moderate on the Richter scale, with up to 1,500 of those recorded annually around the world.
Extreme quakes at the other end of the scale – 9.0 to 9.9 – happen less than a handful of times per century.
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