A powerful 5.5 magnitude earthquake has hit Spain’s popular tourist hotspots rocking hundreds of towns and villages in seven provinces, including Alicante and the Costa del Sol.
At Almeria airport a roof collapsed, and a Toyota car showroom was also damaged by the 5.5 magnitude earthquake.
Spanish newspaper El Pais said the earthquake hit Murcia, Albacete and Alicante the hardest.
An airport worker told local media, “We heard some noises one after the other and then a loud bang and a great cloud of dust appeared.
“It was a real scare for us. There were airport workers having their first coffee of the day but luckily no one was injured.”
Spain’s National Geographic (IGN) Institute recorded the earthquake at 7.13am which struck two miles below the ocean off the coast of Almeria.
The IGN said the earthquake hit the intensity of IV or V, meaning it was “widely observed” to “strong,” the shallow depth made quake’s shaking stronger.
A Murcia local said, “I was in bed. It woke me up because the bed was moving back and forth, the light on the ceiling was swinging and my wardrobe doors were opening and closing.
“Probably lasted around 10 seconds.”
Another witness said, “I was asleep and I’ve woken up to the bed shaking,” another resident living in Tabernas said, “There was a loud rumbling and the whole house shook.”
A person wrote on Facebook, “Felt this way up in Granada, where I woke up early today wondering why my bed was rocking back and forth.
