AT LEAST 10 people were killed as two earthquakes rocked southern Spain yesterday.
Three people, including the 12-year-old son of a bar owner out walking his dog, died after being hit by falling masonry.
A pregnant woman also died after quakes of 4.4 and 5.1 on the Richter Scale within two hours of each other caused the collapse of a three-storey block of flats where she lived.
Her son was pulled alive from the rubble.
The 10 confirmed dead are all thought to be from the town of Lorca, 1½ hours drive southwest of Alicante, and the epicentre of the quakes.
Dozens more in the town and surrounding areas, including neighbouring Totana, were injured.
Last night they were being treated in a field hospital set up in a town square in Lorca after cracks appeared in the regional hospital.
Local authorities in the affected area described the situation as “chaotic”.
Members of the Spanish army were on their way to the disaster zone as rescue workers searched for more victims.
The number of dead was expected to rise during the night as officials organised a house-to-house search in the worst affected parts of the town of 100,000 inhabitants.
Several buildings collapsed and hundreds of others, including dozens of public buildings, were affected.
Cars were also crushed by falling rubble.
More than 10,000 people faced sleeping in emergency shelters.
The first quake, measuring 4.4 on the Richter Scale, occurred just after 5pm local time.
The second stronger earthquake – which caused the 10 deaths confirmed so far by local officials – hit two hours later in the same area after several minor aftershocks.
Residents left their homes and massed in parks and public gardens for fear of more quakes.
Tremors were felt in the rest of Murcia province and the neighbouring provinces of Alicante, Malaga and Almeria.
Several roads, including parts of a motorway passing by Lorca, were closed for fear of landslides.
There were no immediate reports of any Irish casualties, according to the Department of Foreign affairs.
Local Juani Avellaneda said: “The whole ground shook. I felt very afraid.”
Neighbour Juan Garcia (65) added: “I’ve never felt so terrified.”
Yesterday’s quakes are already the worst in Spain for more than 50 years.
Twelve people died and more than 70 were injured when 50 buildings collapsed during an earthquake in Granada province on April 20th, 1956. – (Bloomberg)