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Seismology. Main earthquakes recorded

Sismologia. Principals terratrèmols registrats Catalonia. 2003
Date Hora d'origen (temps universal) Latitud nord (graus i minuts) Longitud est (graus i minuts) Profunditat del focus (km) Magnitud (escala Richter) Comarca
Gener
8 01:52 41.830 2.770 4 1.6 Selva
16 09:47 41.740 2.570 7 1.1 Selva
Febrer
26 03:33 42.300 2.220 7 3.8 Ripollès
26 04:04 42.310 2.250 7 1.3 Ripollès
26 04:13 42.300 2.250 7 1.2 Ripollès
26 06:33 42.300 2.230 7 1.2 Ripollès
26 09:30 42.300 2.230 6 1.9 Ripollès
26 22:28 42.300 2.230 4 1.4 Ripollès
26 22:32 42.300 2.230 6 1.5 Ripollès
26 22:55 42.300 2.220 4 1.8 Ripollès
27 00:16 42.290 2.210 4 2.2 Ripollès
27 00:27 42.310 2.250 10 1.4 Ripollès
27 01:32 42.290 2.230 4 1.3 Ripollès
27 07:29 42.300 2.230 5 1.1 Ripollès
27 08:55 42.300 2.240 4 1.2 Ripollès
27 22:09 42.300 2.250 7 1.1 Ripollès
28 19:56 42.300 2.230 8 1.1 Ripollès
Març
6 01:03 42.590 0.890 4 1.6 Alta Ribagorça
9 15:15 42.350 2.040 10 1.2 Ripollès
10 00:54 42.300 2.220 6 2.3 Ripollès
22 14:41 42.300 2.230 8 1.1 Ripollès
22 14:49 42.290 2.220 7 1.3 Ripollès
22 18:29 42.380 1.600 4 1.1 Alt Urgell
Abril
07 23:04 41.280 1.510 10 1.1 Baix Penedès
9 02:01 42.300 1.220 8 1.1 Ripollès
9 11:44 42.550 0.990 7 2.1 Alta Ribagorça
18 02:55 41.860 2.760 4 2.7 Selva
21 22:42 41.890 2.710 10 1.2 Selva
Maig
02 19:11 42.590 1.060 4 1.2 Pallars Sobirà
7 22:20 40.830 1.370 10 1.1 Costa Tarrag.
28 00:06 42.300 1.670 10 1.7 Alt Urgell
28 13:38 42.180 1.230 10 1.5 Alt Urgell
31 21:05 41.260 1.310 5 1.1 Alt Camp
Juny
Juliol
02 22:46 41.620 2.520 8 1.6 Maresme
17 01:47 41.660 2.650 4 1.1 Maresme
Agost
02 14:28 41.270 1.220 4 1.1 Alt Camp
3 13:15 42.010 2.590 4 1.1 Selva
7 09:24 42.420 2.230 4 1.3 Ripollès
23 20:30 42.290 1.250 2 1.6 Alt Urgell
Setembre
03 10:41 41.790 2.560 4 1.6 Selva
8 04:06 42.320 2.260 7 1.5 Ripollès
17 03:10 41.820 2.570 10 1.1 Selva
20 13:54 42.600 1.020 4 1.3 Pallars Sobirà
22 11:06 41.180 1.330 10 2.2 Tarragonès
26 11:50 41.350 1.310 10 1.8 Alt Camp
Octubre
06 01:54 41.090 1.150 10 1.2 Tarragonès
10 11:15 41.240 1.110 10 1.8 Baix Camp
19 03:08 42.510 1.090 8 1.7 Pallars Sobirà
25 17:09 41.830 2.790 6 1.7 Selva
25 20:35 41.830 2.780 7 1.7 Selva
26 06:13 41.820 2.770 10 1.1 Selva
26 08:29 41.820 2.750 10 2.4 Selva
26 14:08 41.830 2.780 10 1.5 Selva
26 21:51 41.820 2.770 -10 1.6 Selva
27 08:36 41.820 2.770 -10 2.0 Selva
Novembre
03 07:22 42.610 0.890 8 1.7 Alta Ribagorça
7 23:50 42.270 2.550 4 1.6 Garrotxa
16 20:45 41.770 2.670 11 1.2 Selva
Desembre
03 09:46 41.830 2.790 9 1.8 Selva
17 17:15 42.260 1.830 10 1.1 Berguedà
Source: Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya.
Note: Dades provisionals. Sismes amb magnitud igual o superior a 1.7 a l'escala de Richter.

Last update: June 18, 2009.

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.