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Seismology. Main earthquakes recorded

Seismology. Main earthquakes recorded Catalonia. 2009
Date Time of origin Northern latitude (1) Southern latitude (1) Depth of focus (km) Magnitude (Richter Scale) County
January
4 07:38 42.350 1.450 0 2.6 Alt Urgell
12 18:23 43.010 0.010 0 1.9 Hautes Pyrén.
15 15:52 41.270 1.570 0 2.5 Baix Penedès
February
21 00:07 42.970 0.030 0 2.0 Hautes Pyrén.
24 02:04 42.820 1.470 2 1.7 Ariège
28 08:02 42.560 1.350 10 2.6 Pallars Sobirà
March
7 05:10 42.660 0.780 5 1.7 Val d'Aran
14 01:59 43.030 0.090 7 1.8 Hautes Pyrén.
16 22:06 42.920 0.300 7 1.8 Hautes Pyrén.
19 05:23 43.050 0.050 16 2.0 Hautes Pyrén.
23 15:24 42.780 2.080 4 2.1 Aude
29 20:51 41.770 2.750 4 1.8 Selva
April
1 18:43 42.730 2.600 4 2.0 Pyréné. Orient.
10 00:05 42.370 1.250 6 2.3 Alt Urgell
12 17:42 40.430 0.660 8 1.7 Costa Castelló
May
9 19:59 42.850 0.490 0 1.8 Haute Garonne
17 01:44 42.820 0.270 0 1.9 Huesca
26 02:04 42.770 0.020 0 1.7 Hautes Pyrén.
June
12 06:33 41.810 2.800 10 2.0 Selva
19 13:59 43.030 0.020 0 2.0 Hautes Pyrén.
19 19:25 41.690 2.660 0 2.3 Maresme
20 10:14 43.000 0.160 0 1.9 Hautes Pyrén.
27 01:17 42.800 0.550 4 2.0 Haute Garonne
July
16 04:45 42.920 0.100 0 2.1 Hautes Pyrén.
27 10:26 42.290 2.250 9 1.7 Ripollès
30 17:55 43.030 0.280 0 1.8 Pyréné. Atlant.
August
5 01:49 43.040 0.020 3 2.2 Hautes Pyrén.
9 12:49 41.800 2.100 4 1.9 Bages
13 20:06 42.530 0.060 6 2.0 Huesca
28 11:55 41.400 1.970 6 2.3 Baix Llobregat
September
5 22:58 42.230 1.050 0 1.7 Pallars Jussà
9 18:49 43.010 0.090 0 2.3 Hautes Pyrén.
16 15:44 41.770 1.880 12 2.6 Bages
October
6 04:24 41.550 2.060 8 2.1 Vallès Oc.
15 22:27 43.040 0.140 8 3.4 Hautes Pyrén.
18 04:07 42.890 0.360 3 1.9 Hautes Pyrén.
28 16:00 43.010 0.170 4 2.0 Hautes Pyrén.
November
5 03:37 40.290 0.170 5 2.2 Castelló
7 19:45 42.720 0.120 0 1.7 Hautes Pyrén.
9 20:33 40.680 0.000 4 2.3 Castelló
12 15:11 42.980 0.030 0 1.7 Hautes Pyrén.
17 15:10 42.690 1.050 4 2.5 Pallars Sobirà
27 08:53 42.690 1.060 10 2.2 Pallars Sobirà
December
4 19:07 42.060 1.490 7 1.9 Solsonès
4 19:08 42.060 1.490 4 1.7 Solsonès
6 08:05 42.580 0.250 3 1.7 Huesca
8 20:23 41.400 2.070 6 1.9 Baix Llobregat
8 23:25 42.990 0.160 4 1.8 Hautes Pyrén.
12 06:40 42.940 0.330 3 1.8 Hautes Pyrén.
14 23:52 42.810 1.630 4 1.9 Ariège
19 20:53 43.000 0.030 4 1.7 Hautes Pyrén.
Source: Institut Geològic de Catalunya.
Note: (1) in degrees.

Last update: February 10, 2010.

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.