Seismicity in the Southern Subplateau of the Iberian Peninsula is very scarce and scattered distributed in its eastern sector, although several clusters of epicenters are observed in the northeast of the provinces of Jaén and Ciudad Real and in the south of Cuenca and Guadalajara. These earthquakes are mostly shallow (h<20 km) and of low magnitude (M<3), with the maximum magnitudes and intensities (EMS-98) recorded in this region being 4.7 and V, respectively. The available focal mechanisms are very scarce and strike-slip type, and in a few cases also normal type, consistent with regional tectonics.
In the historical catalogue, the largest recorded earthquakes are the 1755 Mora (Toledo) and 1922 Valdeconcha (Guadalajara) events, both felt with maximum intensity V and estimated magnitude 4.3. There are also some felt earthquakes with intensities IV and IV-V and estimated magnitudes around 4 in the provinces of Ciudad Real, Madrid and Cuenca.
In the instrumental catalogue, the largest recorded earthquakes in this region have magnitudes around 4, being the largest ones those occurred in 2007 in Pedro Muñoz (Ciudad Real) and in 2015 in Ossa de Montiel (Albacete), both of magnitude 4.7 and maximum intensity V. These earthquakes were followed by respective seismic series lasting several months, with more than a hundred M<3 aftershocks, several dozens of which were felt. Also, in Ossa de Montiel (Albacete) another remarkable earthquake occurred in 1930, of magnitude 4.3 and intensity V, located to the southwest of the 2015 seismic series. In the province of Guadalajara, two earthquakes of magnitude around 4 and intensities V and IV can be highlighted, in 1982 in Budia and in 2007 in Escopete, respectively. And in the provinces of Madrid and Toledo, are worth mentioning two earthquakes felt with maximum intensity V, the 1954 San Martín de la Vega (Madrid) earthquake of magnitude 4.1 and the 2008 Tembleque (Toledo) earthquake of magnitude 3.8.
© Instituto Geográfico Nacional - C/ General Ibáñez de Ibero, 3. 28003 Madrid - España.
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