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Seismology. Main earthquakes recorded

Seismology. Main earthquakes recorded Catalonia. 2019
Date Time of origin Northern latitude (1) Southern latitude (1) Depth of focus (km) Magnitude (Richter Scale) County
January
1 02:46 40.661 N 1.379 E 19 2.2 Mar Mediterrània - Balears
2 12:24 42.287 N 2.365 E 2 1.8 Ripollès
9 00:58 41.225 N 0.409 E 0 1.9 Ribera d'Ebre
9 07:54 40.360 N 0.730 E 3 1.7 Costa Castelló
9 08:53 42.474 N 1.797 E 0 2.4 Cerdanya
13 13:39 42.496 N 1.801 E 4 2.3 Pyrénées-Orientales
17 06:28 42.969 N 0.212 E 0 2.0 Hautes-Pyrénées
19 13:30 42.294 N 1.856 E 14 2.0 Berguedà
19 15:13 42.289 N 1.856 E 12 2.3 Berguedà
20 15:45 41.000 N 0.999 E 22 2.5 Costa Baix Camp
23 00:21 42.481 N 1.798 E 3 1.7 Cerdanya
24 00:30 41.769 N 2.745 E 10 2.0 Selva
February
10 20:46 43.046 N 0.298 W 0 2.2 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
20 12:34 43.047 N 0.330 W 0 2.0 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
26 07:54 42.516 N 0.961 E 4 2.6 Pallars Jussà
March
10 08:31 42.630 N 3.018 E 4 2.1 Pyrénées-Orientales
31 00:44 43.118 N 0.315 W 3 1.8 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
April
3 15:29 42.346 N 1.314 E 1 4.1 Alt Urgell
3 15:36 42.345 N 1.303 E 0 2.0 Alt Urgell
10 12:32 41.587 N 2.619 E 4 2.1 Costa Maresme
14 16:34 42.288 N 1.552 E 5 2.6 Alt Urgell
14 23:55 42.288 N 1.551 E 5 2.2 Alt Urgell
15 00:09 42.289 N 1.552 E 5 2.1 Alt Urgell
16 12:24 43.013 N 0.034 W 5 1.9 Hautes-Pyrénées
29 06:12 41.841 N 2.774 E 5 1.9 Selva
May
3 22:11 42.992 N 0.004 E 0 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
9 00:51 42.369 N 1.140 E 5 2.5 Pallars Sobirà
22 10:12 43.022 N 0.254 E 5 2.0 Hautes-Pyrénées
25 20:48 42.573 N 0.255 E 0 2.8 Huesca
26 19:23 40.572 N 0.040 E 0 1.7 Castelló
29 02:30 43.024 N 0.026 W 1 2.0 Hautes-Pyrénées
June
14 07:30 42.959 N 0.257 E 3 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
16 03:44 42.283 N 1.551 E 4 1.8 Alt Urgell
July
7 13:56 41.833 N 2.769 E 5 2.3 Selva
27 03:12 40.872 N 1.915 E 4 2.3 Mar Mediterrània - Balears
August
2 17:36 43.076 N 0.120 E 3 1.8 Hautes-Pyrénées
14 04:16 42.314 N 1.324 E 0 2.0 Alt Urgell
29 15:53 42.698 N 0.801 E 3 2.0 Val d'Aran
October
2 11:02 42.584 N 2.109 E 5 1.7 Pyrénées-Orientales
3 06:14 43.063 N 0.327 W 0 1.9 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
4 16:11 43.060 N 0.250 E 0 2.9 Hautes-Pyrénées
8 15:47 42.483 N 0.976 E 0 1.8 Pallars Jussà
16 23:53 40.499 N 0.794 E 4 2.0 Costa Montsià
17 05:07 40.497 N 0.793 E 7 2.0 Costa Montsià
18 02:29 42.340 N 2.379 E 5 2.3 Ripollès
30 14:50 42.968 N 0.184 E 0 2.2 Hautes-Pyrénées
November
1 05:52 42.661 N 2.544 E 1 1.9 Pyrénées-Orientales
2 12:53 42.202 N 1.024 E 0 1.8 Pallars Jussà
3 06:05 42.315 N 1.326 E 1 2.4 Alt Urgell
9 01:02 42.996 N 0.035 W 0 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
12 09:00 42.700 N 1.071 E 9 1.7 Pallars Sobirà
12 09:00 42.692 N 1.062 E 10 2.2 Pallars Sobirà
22 04:41 42.327 N 0.645 E 0 3.3 Huesca
December
8 04:08 42.525 N 1.018 E 2 2.5 Pallars Jussà
29 08:20 42.690 N 0.137 E 0 2.3 Huesca
Source: Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya.
Note: (1) in degrees.

Last update: January 30, 2020.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Magnitude of an earthquake
Instrumental measure of its force. It is related with the energy transported by seismic waves. It is expressed in decimal figures in accordance with the Richter scale, whose highest value is 9.
Profundity of the focus of the earthquake
Distance from the point where the earthquake originated and the epicentre or point of vertical projection over the surface of the Earth. It is expressed in kilometres.
Earthquake
Set of shockwaves generated from a point within the Earth, called its focus or hypocentre, as result of which there is a sudden release of energy produced by a brusque movement between blocks of the crust and the mantle of the Earth. They are defined by the following: magnitude and depth of the focus.

Methodological aspects

The Western Mediterranean is located in a collusion zone between the European and African tectonic plates.

The Seismology Service was created in 1981 to study in detail the seismic activity in the territory, to monitor it closely, and to determine and characterise the seismic zones.

Since 1984, hypocentral determinations have been conducted in consideration of the Service's own data and that of other bodies: the Midi-Pyrénées Observatory, the Institute of Catalan Studies, the National Geographic Institute, the Ebro Observatory, the Fabra Observatory and the Detection and Geophysical Laboratory. Information on seismic activity in Catalonia and its neighbouring regions is released annually in the Seismic Bulletin published by the Geological Institute of Catalonia.

The criterion was to select all the seismic movements those that had an epicentre within the Catalan territory and were of a magnitude equal to or higher than 1.7 on the Richter scale.

Provisional data.