Earthquake forces evacuation of 1,600 pupils from Albacete schools

An earthquake registering 4 on the Richter scale was recorded in Caudete (Albacete) this morning, forcing local authorities to evacuate around 1,600 pupils from local schools. The school buildings are now being checked out by specialists from the regional emergency services.

Pedro Antonio Ruiz Santos, member of parliament for Albacete, explained that classes had been cancelled for over a thousand primary and secondary school pupils at Caudete's four schools, and for another 500+ students at the Pintor Rafael Requena sixth form college.

Ruiz Santos, who went personally to Caudete to assess the earthquake damage for himself, said that in the end it had been "little more than a scare" as the epicentre was 12 km below the earth's surface, meaning that the quake had caused little surface damage, despite registering 4 on the Richter scale, "not insignificant", as he pointed out.

The quake, which was recorded at 9.47 this morning, caused objects to fall and cracks to appear in the walls at the Pintor Rafael Requena sixth form college, whereas windows were shattered, cracks appeared and part of a roof came down at the El Paseo school. At the Gloria Fuertes school, cracks appeared in the plaster and objects fell to the floor.

The earthquake was also felt in the nearby town of Almansa, where emergency services received a number of calls as the "force of the quake" was felt.

Today's earthquake is the third recorded in the province of Albacete over the past seven days, with two smaller ones (3.2 and 2.2 respectively on the Richter scale) being recorded on November 27th in Villarrobledo.