An earthquake hit southern Spain (Image: Getty)
An earthquake of 5.1 on the Richter scale shook many parts of southern Spain and Portugal popular with British holidaymakers.
The event was recorded in the north of Morocco on Monday night (February 10) with tremors felt in many parts of Andalusia, especially in the Campo de Gibraltar in the Cádiz region, as well as in the Algarve in Portugal, according to Spanish media.
The Spanish National Geographic Institute (IGN) recorded the earthquake at 11.48pm, with the epicentre in the region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima in Morocco, near the town of Ksar el-Kebir, at a depth of 34 kilometres.
Local news reports that there were no fatalities. The earthquake was felt with intensity II and III, meaning a weak or slight intensity, in many parts of southern Spain and Portugal, reports .
This included Seville (Alcalá de Guadaíra, Guillena, San Juan de Aznalfarache, Bormujos, Carmona, Mairena del Aljarafe, Dos Hermanas and the capital); Cádiz (Algeciras, Los Barrios and San Roque); Málaga (Estepona, Fuengirola and the capital); Huelva (Lepe and the capital); Jaén (Linares) and Córdoba, as well as in southern Portugal (Algarve), reports .
People living in Campo de Gibraltar took to social media sharing messages asking if others had felt the movements beneath their feet.
The 112 emergency services line in Andalusia had five warnings from citizens in the early hours of Tuesday morning (February 11) about the incident.
This included four in the province of Seville (two in the capital, and one each in Mairena del Alcor and Mairena del Aljarafe) and one in Huelva (Bollullos Par del Condado).
There was a major earthquake in Morocco in September 2023, at 6.8 magnitude, which resulted in the deaths of 3,000 people, with 56,000 homes affected.
Magnitude of 5.0-5.9 on the Richter scale is classed as ‘Moderate’, meaning it can cause some damage to buildings, while 6.0-6.9 is ‘Strong’, with the potential for substantial damage to built up areas.
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The news comes as the Greek island of Santorini was hit by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake on Monday (February 10), with tremors felt in Athens.
The popular holiday destination has been shaken by a lot of seismic activity recently, with thousands of quakes detected by the University of Athens’ Seismological Laboratory since January 26.
Landslides have been triggered, with locals patrolling dangerous areas to urge tourists not to go near cliff edges to take photos.
Fortunately no one has been reported injured due to the earthquakes, but more than 11,000 people have left the island as a precaution.
Seismologists are hoping the regular quakes will soon subside but the possibility of a major earthquake has not been ruled out.