December 2, 1620 Earthquake: Alicante, Spain

2 December 1620. Regarding the time of occurrence, there is ambiguity; times are given as 6 p.m. local time (GMT 18 hr; García Molero, 1621) and between 6 and 7 p.m. local time (18–19 hr GMT) […] Most of the information on the damage and casualties produced by the earthquake corresponds to the town of Alcoy, for which most of the damage and casualties took place. […] choir was destroyed and fell, killing seven monks and wounding five who were there at the time. The Monastery of Saint Francis (Monasterio de San Francisco) also suffered very heavy damage, and the vault opened “like a pomegranate” (quedó como una granada por todas partes abierto, Abad, 1621). […] In addition to churches, houses and civil buildings also suffered heavy damage […] The number of destroyed houses is estimated to be 380 of the 614 total (62%). The earthquake caused a large number of casualties, with 30 people dead and many wounded. Many of the wounded, described as maltratados (battered), estropeados (broken), and descalabrados (injured), may have possibly died afterward, thereby increasing the number of deaths. García Molero (1621) reports that the exact number of dead is not known as, when he writes, dead bodies were still being found under the ruins of the houses (ir descubriendo cada día debajo de las ruinas cuerpos muertos). Carbonell (1668) estimates that the total cost of the losses was 200,000 ducados. An estimation of the equivalent present value would be approximately 11 million euros [...] Delgado et al. (2006), from the intensity values, assigned a magnitude of 4.9 (mb) and 4.6 (Ms) to the earthquake. This is based on only three values of intensity, which does not substantiate the result. (reference #14070)