The severe earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people and destroyed many buildings in Algiers and the surrounding area on Wednesday evening also affected the Balearic Islands. However, no people were injured on the Spanish islands.
It took just under an hour for the natural force of the earthquake that struck Algiers at 7.45 pm to reach Mallorca. At 8.44pm, the earth shook for seconds in Palma. Hundreds of panicked people ran into the streets and the island's emergency phone lines were blocked for several minutes.
However, at 3.5 degrees on the Richter scale, the quake had fortunately already lost most of its destructive power on its way from Africa to the Balearic Islands. At the epicentre, 70 kilometres east of Algiers, scientists were able to measure a devastating 6.7 degrees on the scale.
The actual, albeit minor, damage on Mallorca occurred when the inhabitants had already overcome the greatest shock. The earth tremors created a wave on the sea, which had an enormous suction effect. At first, Marianne Weihmann from the charter company Mare Nostrum reports, the water level dropped by two metres, after which the water came back with a large wave.
As Carlos Preusse, correspondent for YACHT, reports, some yachts in the harbour of Cala d'Or began to drift after their cleats were torn off. In the harbour of Porto Colom, the fire brigade had to be called out due to flooding.
The incident ended badly for the charter giant Moorings in Palma de Mallorca. The large floating dock had completely torn loose. "Together with 40 yachts, it travelled a few metres," reports Claudia Fichtner from Moorings. However, none of the company's ships were damaged.
Fichtner explains that the yachts have now been moved to jetties belonging to other companies until the weekend. However, by Saturday, when the next customers arrive, everything will be in perfect order again.
