5.2 earthquake hit southern Spain,

[Guest guest]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13370216

11 May 2011 Last updated at 21:23 ET

At least 10 people were killed after a magnitude-5.2 earthquake hit southern

Spain, near the town of Lorca.

The quake struck at 1847 (1647 GMT) on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey

reported, two hours after a 4.4-magnitude tremor.

Here is a selection of stories from BBC website readers in Spain, affected by

the earthquake.

Angel Dominguez

Continue reading the main story

"

Start Quote

My hands were shaking, my heart was pounding. "

End Quote

Angel We had an awfully strong quake in Lorca; my hands were shaking.

People were leaving their homes and there was debris on the streets. We're on a

nearby grove, with many people. We're fine, but really scared.

My heart was pounding. I was scared when the second quake hit which felt at

least as strong as the first one. At the time I hoped whatever aftershocks came

that they were sooner rather than later.

Several aftershocks occurred in the few hours after the initial quake but they

were not too strong.

A friend of ours was in the main avenue of Lorca when it happened, she said

debris was falling down on pedestrians.

Dilys Hunt

I was in the underground car park at the shopping centre in Lorca when the

earthquake struck.

I was sitting in the car when I heard what sounded like an express train going

overhead and the ground and the building and all the cars shook very violently.

It lasted about 30 seconds.

We left the car park pretty quickly in case another quake struck. As we were

leaving Lorca there were fire engines and ambulances driving into the town

centre.

When we got home to Velez Rubio our Spanish friend called to say that her

apartment building had shaken very badly - we are about 30km from Lorca. We felt

a very faint tremor later on.

Caroline Sayer

We live just south-east of Lorca and felt both earthquakes. There was a rumbling

noise and the house shook so much a plate fell off the dresser and broke. Very

shortly afterwards we could hear sirens.

I drove into Lorca on Wednesday evening to have a look at the damage. It's

normally buzzing at that time of night but it is now very subdued. There is

rubble and broken glass strewn everywhere.

So many buildings are damaged with cracks, broken tiles and windows. Water is

running down the streets from burst water pipes. People are huddled on street

corners and plazas, shocked, upset and not knowing what to do.

Many homes have been declared unsafe. People are waiting to be told where they

can go. Some people will be sleeping out in the open, while others are leaving

in cars to go to friends or family outside the area.

One young couple just had a blanket they'd grabbed and their pet canary in a

cage but told me they were happy as they were still alive and had each other.