Lorca locals sleep on the street after quake

The moment an earthquake rocked a small town in Spain,

badly damaging its ancient church.

Eight people died with two more left in a critical condition

after the 5.3 magnitude tremor shook the tourist town of Lorca.

Ambulances rushed to help people,

many of the dead were crushed in cars or by falling debris.

Shocked residents and workers rushed out of buildings

and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces.

Earlier, a milder quake of 4.4 had hit the town.

Lorca is in Spain’s most seismically active area

being close to a large fault line beneath the Mediterranean Sea.

As night fell many people were still too afraid to return to their homes and prepared for a long night sleeping in the streets in case of aftershocks.

Experts say the quake was the most serious to hit Spain in about fifty years.