21 Aug, 2019 @ 23:55
1 min read

Earthquake hits the Costa Blanca with epicentre in Benitachell as residents hear ‘loud bangs’ and thought ‘lorry had hit the house’

AN EARTHQUAKE has hit the Costa Blanca at 10pm this evening (Wednesday) with residents near Benitachell recording ‘loud bangs’ and feeling their ‘houses shake’.

The quake registered 2.8 on the Richter scale, according to Spain’s National Geographic Institute.

The epicentre was recorded 5km beneath Benitachell, with towns as far as Denia and Benissa feeling the shake.

Magnitude 2 of the Richter scale predicts no lasting damage to buildings.

QUAKE: The epicentre was recorded in Benitachell in the Marina Alta (map uses the Mercalli scale) Credit: Instituto Geografico Nacional

“I heard a loud bang,” Loraine Gostling, resident in Pedreguer, told the Olive Press.

“In 2018 there were five earthquakes in succession – we’re still waiting for the other four!”

Other social media users said ‘the whole house shook’ with one writing: “I thought a lorry had ploughed into our house.”

Another said: “I was going to phone the Guardia as I thought someone had broken through my door.”

According to the Mercalli scale, which measures the intensity of a quake in terms of certain key responses – such as people awakening, movement of furniture, damage to chimneys, and so on – the quake was most intense in the Valle de Sol area of Javea (IV-V intensity).

Scale V is defined as: “Felt by nearly everyone; many awakened. Some dishes and windows broken. Unstable objects overturned. Pendulum clocks may stop.”

Next was La Finca and Tosalet areas of Javea, which along with Benitachell registered a scale IV intensity.

EPICENTRE: Benitachell. Credit: Instituto Geografico Nacional

Joshua Parfitt

Joshua James Parfitt is the Costa Blanca correspondent for the Olive Press. He holds a gold-standard NCTJ in multimedia journalism from the award-winning News Associates in Twickenham. His work has been published in the Sunday Times, Esquire, the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Sun on Sunday, the Mirror, among others. He has appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss devastating flooding in Spain, as well as making appearances on BBC and LBC radio stations.

Contact me now: joshua@theolivepress.es or call +44 07960046259. Twitter: @jjparfitt

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