Yesterday the Prince of Asturias and the Spanish president, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, attended the funeral of various victims of last Wednesday’s earthquake in Lorca, Southern Spain. So far there have been nine confirmed deaths caused by last Wednesday’s earthquake which had a magnitude of 5.2. The earthquake caused large scale material damage to Lorca’s buildings and 56% of the buildings examined by technicians so far have been declared uninhabitable. Buildings have been given green signs if they are safe to enter, yellow signs if they are only safe to enter to collect possessions and red if all access has been prohibited. The Murcian health service has treated 324 people injured in the earthquake 17 of which are still being treated in hospital. The government introduced measures yesterday aimed at alleviating some of the problems experienced by people affected by the earthquake such as making money available for renting houses for those who have been left homeless together with other diverse aid packages.

The government has increased the number of people sent to Lorca to help with the aftermath of the earthquake in order to try and help thousands of people who have been left on the streets in a city where 80% of the buildings have been damaged. Emergency military units have been sent to the area. The damage caused to historic buildings in Lorca has been called ‘the biggest catastrophe for cultural heritage in Europe in recent years’ by the head of Culture and Tourism for Murcia. It is believed that the cost of repairing the damage caused by the earthquake could reach 36 million euros.