This Tuesday there were four earthquakes in mainland Portugal in about 17 hours. Two of them had their epicenter in the southern Algarve (with magnitudes of 3.9 and 3.7 on the Richter scale) and were felt with special intensity in the Olhão and Albufeira areas. Another was registered to the west of Évora (of a lower magnitude, 2.6) and was felt, with less intensity, in the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo. And the last one had an epicenter near Arouca (and a magnitude of 2.5). In none of the cases were personal or material damages recorded.
But can these earthquakes be considered normal, taking into account that they occurred on the same day? Will they indicate an increase in seismic activity in mainland Portugal? And could they even be a harbinger of a more intense earthquake, similar to the one that devastated much of Lisbon and the Algarve, more than 250 years ago? The Observer spoke to seismologists João Fontiela and Rui Moura to clarify some of these questions.
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Source: Observadora
