The 1829 Torrevieja earthquake occurred near the city of
Torrevieja
Torrevieja (; ca-valencia, Torrevella ) is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, in the southern part of the Valencian Community, on the southeastern Mediterranean coast of Spain.
Torrevieja l ...
,
Province of Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...
of southern Spain on March 21, 1829. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.6 and a
Mercalli intensity
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
of IX (''Violent''). It severely damaged many cities. The event was named after the city of Torrevieja because it was the largest locality to be affected.
Earthquake
In the southern province of Alicante, the period between 1820 and 1830 was the most seismically active, affecting the Bajo Segura seismotectonic line which has three major
faults: the Benejúzar-Benijófar, Guardamar del Segura and Torrevieja faults. In general, the Alicante coast sank about across the Torrevieja fault.
From September 13, 1828 to March 21, 1829, there were a series of earthquakes in the area estimated at more than two hundred. At 18:10 on March 21, 1829 an earthquake occurred, measuring 6.6 {{M, w and assigned a maximum intensity of ''IX (Violent)''.
Damage and casualties
At least 2,965 house were totally destroyed and 2,396 were damaged. Destruction of bridges over the Segura river in Almoradi, Benejúzar, Dolores and Guardamar was reported. Hundred of people were killed, half of them in
Almoradí
Almoradí () is a town and municipality located in the ''comarca'' of Vega Baja del Segura, in the province of Alicante, Spain, close to the mouth of the river Segura. Almoradí has an area of 42.72 km² and, according to the 2011 census, a t ...
.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in Spain
This is a list of Wikipedia:WikiProject Earthquakes/notability guidelines, notable earthquakes that had epicentres in Spain, or significantly affected the country.
Geology
Spain lies on the Eurasian Plate just to the north of its boundary with th ...
*
1884 Andalusian earthquake
References
El nuevo urbanismo del Bajo Segura a consecuencia del terremoto de 1829 Gregorio Canales Martínez,
Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library (MCVL; in es, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, BVMC) is a large-scale digital library project, hosted and maintained by the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain. It comprises the largest open-acc ...
. (in Spanish)
Terremotos más importantes ocurridos en España Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España, Instituto Geográfico Nacional,
Ministerio de Fomento. (in Spanish)
Memoria (...) de los terremotos de 21 de marzo... José Agustín de Larramendi, 1829, Biblioteca Digital Hispánica. (in Spanish)
1829 in Spain
1829 earthquakes
March 1829 events
Earthquakes in Spain
Province of Alicante