* Author: José Luis Solano Martínez *
At 18:47 H on 11 May 2011, there was an earthquake measuring 5.1 degrees on the Richter scale, preceded by a seismic movement measuring 4.5 degrees. The epicentre was located four kilometres from the centre of Lorca, the third most important city in the Murcia Region. It was felt throughout the region and even in neighbouring provinces such as Almería and Albacete.
12 May, the day after the earthquake…
It was 6:00 in the morning when I arrived at the La Viña electrical substation, in Lorca, where I met my colleagues from Iberdrola’s Substations Unit, who had been working through the night to repair the transformers affected by the earthquake.
It had been a very long night in the city and over 40,000 residents had spent the night outdoors: some because their homes literally no longer existed, others because theirs had been seriously damaged and the majority, out of fear of aftershocks.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
However, the distribution network was working perfectly and the medium voltage also resisted the force of the earthquake, thanks to the conservation and maintenance work and the construction of the new substation in Lorca -S.T. Hípica-, as well as grid development at all voltage levels in the area.
By 6:30 in the morning, we had set up a table in the least affected area where the offices were located. We had to keep going, although the situation was complicated and our colleagues’ faces showed that they hadn’t slept. The majority abandoned their homes after the first earthquake and have not returned; everyone was affected to a greater or lesser degree.
Then it was time to look and see what condition the installations were in. No exceptions had been recorded during the night. All members of personnel from Lorca were called. We divided up the areas and allocated pairs with colleagues from New Supplies and Maintenance. We were all in it together. We had to go to over 230 transformer stations on foot: the debris on the streets and the danger of landslides meant that vehicle travel was not allowed. Before we left, we talked about the risks that might arise, because the streets are very dangerous.
It was eight in the morning and data was starting to come in on the status of the transformer stations and grids: they were not encouraging. The earth was still moving. These movements were reflected on people’s faces and our concern was mounting. The hours were going by slowly, very slowly. First of all we did the work to eliminate the risk of dangerous cabling, fallen doors and cracks in the transformer stations.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
It was 17:25. By then, almost all of the couples had returned, with no exceptions reported. We kept on taking notes and answering calls. The City Council was worried about possible breakdowns. Several people were walking around the streets with bags and bundles, looking for a place to spend their second night.
By 19:45 we already had a great deal of data on the status of the grid and we were going to have to work for a long time to restore the installations to the status they had before 11 May. By then, we had finished our work for the day and we could relax for a while, although we were still wondering about some questions for which we hadn’t found any answers.
On our way home, we saw people walking through debris, hurrying to take whatever they can from their homes. We found ourselves thinking that you can lose everything you have acquired in an entire lifetime in a matter of minutes and then we remembered the families that lost not only their homes, but their loved ones as well.
It was a day that will be hard to forget.
