M6.3 - SPAIN

Tectonic Summary

Versión en Español
The seismotectonics of the April 11, 2010 M6.3 Spanish earthquake are enigmatic, but the occurrence of deep earthquakes beneath this region of Spain are well-documented. The location of the April 11, 2010 M6.3 and its unusual depth of 616 km suggests that it is related to the well-studied M7.1 deep Spanish earthquake of March 24, 1954. The epicenter of the 1954 earthquake, based on the distribution of ground shaking at the surface (macroseismicity) and limited instrumental recordings of the earthquake, is beneath the town of Dúrcal, 20 km south of Granada. Since the 1954 earthquake, a handful of small magnitude earthquakes (3 and smaller) have occurred in approximately the same location (Buforn et al., 1991). Southwest of the April 11, 2010 M6.3 earthquake in the area of the Alboran Sea, convergences of the African and Eurasian plates does produce a well-defined zone of small magnitude (M < 4) to depth of 200 km. Other than the localized zone of seismicity near 600 km depth, there are no known earthquakes between 200 km and 600 km depth.

Buforn, E., Udias, A., and Madariaga, R., 1991, Intermediate and deep earthquakes in Spain: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 136, p. 375–393.

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