On Monday, August 4, the Alicante province recorded several earthquakes between 50 and 110 kilometres off the coast of Torrevieja, Santa Pola, and Guardamar del Segura. This unusual series is known as a seismic swarm, and more than a dozen tremors in total were detected off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
A seismic swarm refers to a cluster of small earthquakes occurring in the same region over a short period, without one main dominant quake. With Alicante lying within the Betic Cordillera, which is a seismically active zone of the Iberian peninsula, small quakes are quite common. Stronger ones are rarer.
The most powerful earthquake occurred during the night of August 4, with a 3.6 magnitude and an epicentre about 60 kilometres from the shore of the Mediterranean-Levante South area. Other tremors included two magnitude 3.7 earthquakes. Located roughly 50 kilometres from Santa Pola and Guardamar del Segura, these earthquakes ranged from 10 to 12 kilometres deep.
Despite the frequency and intensity of these events, no material damage was reported. Residents in coastal towns and nearby municipalities did report feeling some of the stronger tremors, though.
This recent activity follows other notable events, including a magnitude 3.7 earthquake near Benidorm on August 4 and a magnitude 5.5 quake in Almería in July that caused no damage but was felt in Alicante.