ESTEPONA – The province of Málaga registered a new quake during the night from Monday to Tuesday. The epicentre was in Casares and the earthquake measured 3.1 degrees on the Richter Scale.
The quake was felt in the neighbouring coastal town of Estepona. The earthquake, according to data from the National Geographic Institute (IGN), struck just before 3.00 am on Tuesday (at 2.40 am) northwest of the municipality of Casares at a depth of about 20 kilometres.
Casares intensity II earthquake
The IGN classified it as an intensity II earthquake, meaning the quake is only felt in isolated instances of individuals at rest and only in particularly susceptible positions in buildings. As are the higher floors. It does not cause any effect or damage to property or people.
Five days ago, an earthquake hit the Alborán Sea. That is the part of the Mediterranean Sea between Morocco and Andalucia. It had a strength of 3.8 with an epicentre only 5 kilometres deep. Residents of the Spanish enclave of Melilla have felt this quake well. People who live on the top floors of higher buildings were especially able to notice the quake.
The last seismic episodes in Melilla occurred in early June. On June 2, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake was also felt in the early afternoon. On this occasion, the epicentre was in Annual (Morocco), 64 kilometres from the city.
The rift in the Alborán Sea will continue to move
National Seismic Network seismographer Arancha Izquierdo said in MalagaHoy that the rift in the Alboran Sea will continue to move. Izquierdo said this in response to the high number of tremors in the sea off Melilla in recent months.
5,280 earthquakes in the area in more than a year
From April 1, 2021, to now, the National Geographic Institute has calculated a total of 5,280 earthquakes in the area, of which 24 were of magnitude greater than or equal to 4.0 and 237 felt by the population. Many of these earthquakes were also felt in some coastal towns of the provinces of Malaga, Granada and Almeria.
The two largest earthquakes, on August 28, 2021, with a magnitude of 5.1 and on May 20 of this year, with a magnitude of 5.3, were felt with maximum intensities of IV and IV-V respectively in Melilla. However, due to the great distance from the coastal towns, these earthquakes had a relatively low intensity given their size and depth.
Tectonic Plates
The reason for so much movement, Izquierdo said, is that the rift in the Alboran Sea is at a confluence between the tectonic plates of Europe and Africa. They produce this activity by compressing and sliding. It is “an ultra-active zone” in terms of the institute and this causes a “release of energy”, which causes earthquakes.
