11 May 2011 Last updated at 19:28 GMT

Deadly earthquake rocks Lorca in southern Spain

 

The walls of buildings cracked and cars were damaged as bricks and masonry fell from roof tops

 

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has toppled several buildings in southern Spain, near the town of Lorca, killing at least 10 people, officials say.

The quake struck at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), some 120km south-west of Alicante, at 1850 (1650 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.

TV shots showed rescue workers rushing through debris-littered streets.

Old buildings were badly damaged by the quake, which followed a smaller 4.4-magnitude one about two hours earlier.

It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens.

Spanish TV captured dramatic images of a church bell tower crashing to the ground, landing just metres from the cameraman.

Shocked residents and workers rushed out of buildings and have gathered in squares, parks and open spaces.

The earthquakes were felt over a wide area.

"Unfortunately, we can confirm... deaths due to cave-ins and falling debris," Lorca Mayor Francisco Jodar told radio station Ser.

"We are trying to find out if there are people inside the collapsed houses," he added.

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has deployed emergency military units to the scene, the Spanish EFE news agency reported.

Mr Zapatero was in a meeting with Spanish King Juan Carlos when he was informed of the quake, the premier's office said in a statement.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid says the quake is the most serious to hit Spain in 50 years.

Spain has hundreds of earthquakes every year but most of these are too small to be noticed. Murcia is the country's most seismically active area and suffered tremors in 2005 and 1999.

A number of aftershocks have been felt in the region after Wednesday's quake, and authorities fear the death toll could rise.

 

 

source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13368599

(there's a video on the link)

 

 

is shocking for me, communication was not working for 1 hour there, i felt the quake even at my home.

half my family live in the affected areas in that southern city, in fact i've been in that church that falls down just 2 weeks ago.

i hope politicians won't use it on their benefit since we are having local elections in few weeks.

Ah crap.

Virtual love to Southern Spain!

A coldplayer sent me this information in relation to the earthquakes in Spain on 11.5.11

 

 

Spanish Red Cross is an organization helping those affected.

 

People affected: Around 10,000 citizens.

 

More than 700 homes need to be demolished or are already demolished.

 

9 people died, among them a minor and two pregnant women.

 

All the churches and other historial buildings are really damaged, even some schools and public buildings are a bit damaged and the city's tourism is mostly cultural.

 

The quake happened at 7pm - magnitude 5.2 on the Richter scale - and at a depth of 1km = 1 km below the surface.

 

There was a previous quake - its magnitude was around 4.4 - at 5pm so people were prepared and most went to the open spaces they could find such as parks, big avenues and the like.

 

The lucky ones spent the night in other relatives' homes, but not everybody was that lucky.

 

Communcation failed for 1 hour after the event - it was impossible to reach any relatives there via the telephone - the coldplayer lives in a city 60km away from the quake place and she has family there.