The first tremor, described by locals as ?long but soft? took place at 17:05 local time and measured 4.5 on the Richter scale. Although frightening, at this point no damage was reported. However, there followed a much larger earthquake at 18:47pm local time, measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, which was described as ?short and intense? and which caused buildings to collapse, roads to crack and people to rush into the streets terrified . 120km south-west of Alicante, on the A-7 at 1850 the US Geological Survey reported. A bell from a church falls and narrowly misses a TVEs Spanish reporter . Shocked residents and workers rushed out of buildings and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces. Old buildings were badly damaged.
A doctor told the online edition of El Pais that she and her colleagues went into the streets and treated people with serious injuries, many of them "unconscious". The ambulances could not reach them. They took more than 40 minutes, The earthquakes were felt over a wide area. it was felt in Madrid .
"Unfortunately, we can confirm... deaths due to cave-ins and falling debris," Lorca Mayor Francisco Jodar told radio station Ser.
Ten killed in earthquake . "We are trying to find out if there are people inside the collapsed houses," he added.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has deployed emergency military units to the scene, the Spanish Efe news agency reported .
Mr Zapatero was in a meeting with Spanish King Juan Carlos when he was informed of the quake, the premier's office said in a statement.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid says the quake is the most serious to hit Spain in 50 years.
The US Geological Survey said both earthquakes happened at a depth of about six miles (10km).
Spain has hundreds of earthquakes every year but most of these are too small to be noticed. Murcia - the region where Lorca is situated - is the country's most seismically active area and suffered tremors in 2005 and 1999.
Murcia is close to the large fault line beneath the Mediterranean Sea where the European and African continents meet.
A number of aftershocks have been felt in the region after Wednesday's quake, and authorities fear the death toll could rise
jurdy
May 17, 2011 · Juba
I don't think anyone was prepared for this earthquake. It took everyone by surprise and luckily many people had the sense to get out in the open ground away from falling debris.
It could have been much much worse.
It could have been much much worse.