CADIZ – There was an earthquake on Sunday evening in the Gulf of Cádiz, on the Atlantic coast between the Algarve, Andalucia and Morocco. The quake measured 5.4 on the Richter Scale. The epicentre was at a depth of 62 kilometres.
Three calls were made to the emergency number 112. The quake was felt in the province of Huelva by a few people. As emergency number 112 has been reported on Twitter, no personal or material damage has been reported to date.
The quake occurred at a latitude of 35,9280, a longitude of -8.5681 and a depth of 62 kilometres, according to the National Geographic Institute (IGN), as detailed by the agency.
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Gulf of Cádiz ‘high risk’ of tsunami
The Gulf of Cadiz, northern Algeria and North Africa are fault zones. Therefore there is a seismically “high risk” of a tsunami due to seaquakes. The working group of the Hydraulic Institute of the University of Cantabria (IH Cantabria), led by Mauricio González, is preparing the coastal municipality of Chipiona in the province of Cadiz as a pilot project. Together with the municipal authorities, they are working to ensure that Chipiona obtains the ‘Tsunami Ready’ certificate. This entails recognition from UNESCO for optimal preparation in the event of a tsunami.
The researcher explains that the areas most exposed to the impact of a tsunami are all the coasts of Spain. This is with the exception of Asturias and Cantabria. In those two northern Spanish coastal areas, the impact would be much less. There are no fault lines. However, there are in the Gulf of Cadiz, in the north of Algeria and North Africa.
Besides the Gulf of Cadiz as the highest risk area in Spain, other coasts can also be hit by a tsunami. Those are the Costa del Sol, which includes a large part of Andalucia and provinces such as Málaga. There is also a reasonable chance of a tidal wave after a seaquake on the Costa Tropical in Granada, the Costa de Almería and the Costa Cálida in Murcia.
