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Seismology. Main earthquakes recorded

Seismology. Main earthquakes recorded Catalonia. 2020
Date Time of origin Northern latitude (1) Southern latitude (1) Depth of focus (km) Magnitude (Richter Scale) County
January
6 12:22 42.685 N 0.134 E 0 2.4 Huesca
30 12:33 42.913 N 0.203 W 4 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
February
19 02:38 41.836 N 2.769 E 4 2.2 Selva
23 11:37 40.217 N 0.713 E 10 3.1 Mar Mediterrània - Balears
March
9 23:25 41.841 N 2.776 E 8 2.3 Selva
20 06:33 40.929 N 1.089 E 1 1.7 Costa Baix Camp
20 17:03 40.925 N 1.325 E 9 1.7 Costa Tarragonès
28 14:58 42.526 N 3.156 E 0 1.7 Costa Pyrénées-Orientales
29 10:52 42.495 N 1.795 E 2 2.5 Pyrénées-Orientales
April
12 16:12 42.717 N 0.506 E 0 1.7 Haute-Garonne
22 03:57 42.990 N 0.209 E 5 1.9 Hautes-Pyrénées
25 08:12 42.513 N 3.139 E 3 1.8 Costa Pyrénées-Orientales
May
8 12:47 41.839 N 2.654 E 4 3.7 Selva
10 07:20 42.692 N 0.492 E 5 2.2 Huesca
10 08:37 42.728 N 0.510 E 5 1.7 Haute-Garonne
15 00:53 40.964 N 0.608 E 10 2.3 Ribera d'Ebre
16 03:37 41.224 N 0.600 E 15 1.8 Ribera d'Ebre
24 16:49 43.023 N 0.224 W 3 3.0 Hautes-Pyrénées
26 11:07 42.313 N 1.846 E 7 1.7 Cerdanya
27 17:07 42.932 N 2.272 E 8 1.9 Aude
31 03:00 42.905 N 0.242 E 0 2.6 Hautes-Pyrénées
June
1 21:08 42.566 N 1.355 E 7 1.8 Pallars Sobirà
3 13:00 42.508 N 3.137 E 5 1.8 Costa Pyrénées-Orientales
13 01:56 40.980 N 1.303 E 8 1.7 Costa Tarragonès
July
7 05:13 42.894 N 0.251 E 4 2.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
9 02:44 42.887 N 0.238 E 6 2.6 Hautes-Pyrénées
9 12:11 42.898 N 0.244 E 4 3.0 Hautes-Pyrénées
9 17:17 42.895 N 0.242 E 4 2.8 Hautes-Pyrénées
26 23:38 42.657 N 0.646 E 5 1.8 Huesca
27 07:21 42.893 N 0.244 E 5 2.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
27 10:24 42.890 N 0.238 E 6 1.8 Hautes-Pyrénées
29 09:56 42.888 N 0.236 E 3 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
29 13:54 42.352 N 1.816 E 12 1.7 Cerdanya
29 21:05 42.348 N 1.824 E 13 2.2 Cerdanya
August
8 21:07 42.760 N 0.543 E 11 2.7 Haute-Garonne
12 01:32 41.762 N 3.026 E 16 1.7 Costa Baix Empordà
1 01:16 42.378 N 1.625 E 11 1.9 Alt Urgell
28 21:36 41.848 N 2.532 E 9 2.7 Selva
September
2 01:31 41.888 N 3.595 E 25 3.6 Mar Mediterrània - Lleó
15 09:54 42.968 N 0.252 E 0 2.2 Hautes-Pyrénées
30 01:01 42.917 N 0.211 E 7 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
October
6 13:54 42.978 N 0.114 W 11 2.0 Hautes-Pyrénées
7 07:40 42.916 N 0.220 E 8 2.5 Hautes-Pyrénées
10 04:22 43.021 N 0.215 E 13 2.4 Hautes-Pyrénées
11 07:03 42.913 N 0.205 E 8 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
29 06:30 42.928 N 0.210 E 0 2.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
29 17:50 42.929 N 0.215 E 0 2.1 Hautes-Pyrénées
31 09:19 42.928 N 0.220 E 0 1.9 Hautes-Pyrénées
November
1 13:24 42.922 N 0.216 E 0 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
3 11:22 42.920 N 0.211 E 0 1.9 Hautes-Pyrénées
4 07:35 42.914 N 0.205 E 0 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
5 05:00 42.925 N 0.209 E 0 1.8 Hautes-Pyrénées
8 14:12 42.719 N 2.000 E 5 1.9 Ariège
13 21:14 42.924 N 0.212 E 0 2.0 Hautes-Pyrénées
16 00:59 42.559 N 1.315 E 8 2.0 Pallars Sobirà
23 09:17 42.921 N 0.202 E 6 2.5 Hautes-Pyrénées
23 09:22 42.912 N 0.207 E 8 1.8 Hautes-Pyrénées
25 15:39 42.583 N 1.028 E 10 2.3 Pallars Sobirà
27 17:52 42.946 N 0.112 E 12 1.7 Hautes-Pyrénées
28 10:10 42.915 N 0.210 E 8 2.1 Hautes-Pyrénées
December
13 20:12 42.571 N 0.733 E 4 2.6 Huesca
20 06:06 43.011 N 0.639 E 0 2.5 Haute-Garonne
Source: Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya.
Note: (1) in degrees.

Last update: February 9, 2021.

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.