A “moderate” earthquake occurred in the Strait of Gibraltar just before 3pm this afternoon, with tremors felt in places as close as Estepona and Marbella.

The incident was picked up by the website http://www.emsc-csem.org, which said the earthquake occurred in the Strait at 2.47pm local time. 

Residents in nearby towns in Spain commented on the website that the earthquake lasted for about 10 seconds.

The earthquake was calculated to be of 5.0 magnitude, with a depth of 10km, and occurred near in El Hoceima in Morocco, some 150km east of Gibraltar. 

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