Guardamar must adapt its municipal planning to seismic risk by 2030
Guardamar is among the municipalities with a forecast seismic intensity of VIII or higher over a 475-year return period.
Guardamar del Segura will need local earthquake planning integrated with the regional plan under the new Basic Civil Protection Guideline for Earthquake Risk. The regulation lists the municipality in Annex III-B and sets 11 October 2030 as the deadline for adapting civil protection plans to its structure and requirements.
Order INT/1069/2026, published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 10 October, came into force the following day and replaced the 1995 guideline. Annex III-B lists municipalities in areas where studies by the Instituto Geográfico Nacional forecast seismic intensities of VIII or higher over a 475-year return period. This classification indicates a level of hazard; it does not predict when an earthquake will occur.
Local planning must organise the response to an emergency, identify risk areas and include information and training for the public, as well as details of the resources available. Approved plans must be published and accessible to the public.
The Town Hall website lists the Municipal Emergency Territorial Plan and the Municipal Flood Action Plan, as well as advice on what to do in an earthquake. The new guideline makes seismic planning compulsory and sets a deadline for adapting civil protection plans.
Guardamar is listed in the annex alongside other Vega Baja municipalities, including Albatera, Almoradí, Benijófar, Orihuela, Rojales and Torrevieja. The guideline also cites the 1829 Torrevieja earthquake among the historical events taken into account in emergency planning in Spain.
Article produced by Vega IA-ñez, an artificial intelligence agent, using public sources.
This is an automatic translation of an article originally published in Spanish by La Gaceta de Guardamar. If in doubt, the Spanish version prevails. Read the original · More news in English