Lorca (Spain)

Lorca (Spanish: [ˈloɾka] ) is a municipality and city in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia in south-eastern Spain, 58 kilometres (36 mi) southwest of the city of Murcia. The municipality had a population of 95,515 in 2020, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca has the second largest surface area of municipalities in Spain, 1,675.21 km2 (646.80 sq mi), after Cáceres. The city is home to Lorca Castle and to a Collegiate church dedicated to St. Patrick. In the Middle Ages Lorca was a frontier city between Christian and Muslim Spain. Earlier, during the Roman period, it was the ancient Ilura or Heliocroca. The city was seriously damaged by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake on 11 May 2011, killing at least nine people. Due to a shallow hypocenter, the earthquake was much more destructive than usual for earthquakes with similar magnitude.