AN EARTHQUAKE struck the province of Sevilla at lunchtime today (Tuesday), according to the National Geographical Institute (IGN) – but nobody even felt it.
The epicentre was in the village of El Saucejo at exactly 12.25 and measured 3 on the Richter scale, which would normally be enough to make the ground tremble for a split second and cause items on shelves to wobble.
But as it was 11 kilometres below ground, nobody noticed it.
Emergency services say they did not receive a single call, and anyone in the Sevilla area taking a lie-in today can legitimately say they can sleep through an earthquake.
Earthquakes in Spain are typically around 2 or 3 on the Richter scale, meaning even if they are close to the surface, damage and injury is rare and they mostly only produce anecdote fodder.
Occasionally a tremor of up to 4.5 may occur, when minor damage is possible and the ground movement alarming, but overall the results are rarely serious.
A massive quake on May 11, 2011 in Lorca (Murcia) caused several deaths and destroyed the city, reaching 5.6 on the Richter scale and with its epicentre only a kilometre below ground, but this was officially the worst in Spain in over a century.
Photograph by the National Geographical Institute (IGN)
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