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Thousands Flee Spain Quake Site

AFTERSHOCKS

Nearly every building in Lorca damaged.

cheats/2011/05/12/thousands-flee-spanish-earthquake-site/spain-earthquake_179823_lkr8ab
Two men in Lorca, Spain, console each other after the earthquake. (TVE via APTN / AP Photo)

Fearing aftershocks, thousands fled the Spanish town of Lorca Thursday—only one day after devastating twin earthquakes hit, leaving nine dead and nearly 3,000 homeless. Funerals for some of the victims are set to start Friday; an open-air funeral mass is scheduled to be held in the town Friday morning, which Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is expected to attend. Tents have been set up for homeless people in Lorca, while some residents were briefly allowed back into their homes Thursday to scour for belongings. Nearly every building in town has reportedly been damaged. A magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit Wednesday evening, only two hours after a quake measuring 4.4 hit the same area—the deadliest tremors to hit Spain since 1956.

Read it at BBC News

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