An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale was felt in Portugal, from Viseu to the Algarve, with its epicentre off the coast of Sines, at dawn (05h11) on 26 August. The quake was also felt in Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco, and there were then five smaller aftershocks. Civil Protection did not record any significant personal or material damage, as special emergency plans are only activated for earthquakes above 6.1, but the Portuguese population was startled.
This earthquake was the strongest recorded in mainland Portugal since 1969.
Daniel Oliveira, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, ISISE researcher and member of the Portuguese Society of Seismic Engineering, was on RTP to comment on this event and to clarify some of the questions that have arisen about the seismic resistance of buildings in Portugal. His speech can be seen from minute 19:09 of the 3 at 16 programme.
https://www.rtp.pt/play/p12705/e790975/3-as-16
José Campos e Matos, Assistant Professor in the Civil Engineering Department and ISISE researcher, was also on CNN to explain the earthquake. His speech can be seen from minute 39:13 of the CNN Top Story programme:
