An earthquake hit a town in southeast Spain on Wednesday causing houses to collapse, damaging historic churches and public buildings and killing at least six people.

Some reports said that the rare earthquake, which was 5.3 magnitude, sent tremors through the region of Murcia and had affected a nursing home and the tower of an important church in the town which is dependent on farming.

"Unfortunately, we can confirm ... deaths due to cave-ins and falling debris," the mayor of Lorca, Francisco Jodar, told radio station Ser. "We`re trying to find out if there are people inside the collapsed houses."

A Murcia government spokesman said on the radio that six people had been killed in the earthquake.

The quake hit at 6:47 p.m., according to data from Spain`s National Geographical Institute. The U.S Geological Survey said the epicentre was 1 km below the ground.

Lorca, which has a population of about 90,000 people, dates back to the Bronze Age and probably gained its name from the Romans. The old part of the town is made up of a network of narrow alleyways. (M014/K004) 

Source: ANTARA