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12 May 2011 by Luke McCormick
The 5.2-magnitude quake struck yesterday afternoon two hours after a previous 4.7-magnitude tremor. Both were widely felt across the Murcia region, including in Cartegena, Aguilas, Murcia, Mazarrón, Albacete and Almería.
The main clock tower in Lorca collapsed as a result of the quake and many of the older buildings crumbled or were badly damaged, before 10,000 people were evacuated as officials cordoned off the city centre.
Currently there are no reports of British Nationals being involved.
Spanish authorities are reporting disruption to transport in the Murcia region with severe delays on the A7 and AP7 motorways, according to the Foreign Office.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has deployed emergency military units to the scene after the worst quake to affect the country in more than 50 years.
"The whole of the centre of Lorca has been seriously damaged," a delegate from the regional government of Murcia told national radio, according to the BBC.
"There are thousands of very disorientated people."
In a strange twist of irony, many residents of Rome chose to steer clear of the city yesterday after heeding the warnings of a long dead seismologist who predicted decades ago that a large earthquake would strike Rome on May 11, 2011.