ARCHIVED - Alicante registers an earthquake every 48 hours

For more than a month, the province in the Valencia region has experienced tremors every two days

Alicante province and its coasts have been registering an earthquake approximately every two days for more than a month.

Fortunately, the earthquakes have been of low magnitude and the activity is typical of a "convergent plate boundary" – an area where two or more tectonic plates bump into each other

Since August 19, there have been 17 quakes, and a total of 25 since the beginning of the month, though many have gone unnoticed by the public, particularly those in which the epicentre was located at sea.

The majority of the earthquakes recorded since the beginning of August have had a magnitude of less than two degrees on the Richter scale, according to data collected by the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and the Seismic Network of the University of Alicante. 

Only five have ranged between two and three degrees, and one, recorded on August 29, registered 3.8 degrees, with its epicentre out at sea.

What has been of interest is the location of the phenomena, the experts have said, with activity in the Maigmó and El Cid mountain ranges, and several tremors located in Petrer, Agost, Tibi and Monforte.

But whilst the succession of episodes has been more intense than usual, it is "by no means exceptional", assured the director of the UA Seismic Network, José Delgado. 

The province and its coasts typically experiences between 60 and 80 earthquakes each year, "but the fact Alicante is located in an area of contact of tectonic plates means the movements can occur more frequently and at any time", added Delgado, but it is "not a situation to worry about".

"Fortunately these earthquakes are small, but they remind us that more intense phenomena can occur. In fact, they already have, as was the case with a severe earthquake that occurred in the Vega Baja 192 years ago," said the director.

He also stressed the seismic activity has "nothing to do" with the eruption of a volcano on Spanish island of La Palma on Sunday September 19, which has destroyed homes and forced 500 tourists to flee for their safety, and explained the province is simply "one of the most sensitive in peninsular Spain to this type of phenomena".

Image: IGN/Red Sísmica de la UA