NEWS
On 31 Aug 2016 the USGS reported an earthquake of magnitude 3,8 with an epicentre 5,8km deep between San Roque and Castillo de Castellar, just north of Gibraltar. In our house in Sotogrande, the house vibrated distinctly but only briefly (I asked the wife if she felt the earth move, but she just looked blankly at me !)
Almost all the large earthquakes in this area this year have been associated with movement on the Trans Alboran Shear Zone (Chapter 4). These generally have epicentres of 10km or shallower because they are associated with faulting in the Crust. The San Roque quake was similar in that it was "Crustal" in depth, but given its location the cause of the fault movement was probably thrust movement on the boundary between the Internal Betics and the External Betics (Chapter 3). |