Thousands of people have spent the night outdoors in the Spanish town of Lorca

Thousands of people have spent the night outdoors in the Spanish town of Lorca in fear of further tremors after the country's worst earthquakes in 50 years killed eight people and injured dozens.

Residents began sifting through the rubble left by two earthquakes on Thursday morning as questions were asked about how such apparently minor tremors could cause such havoc.

Hundreds of people queued for food from emergency workers as they were prevented from returning to their homes.

Up to 20,000 people had spent the night in squares, parks and nearby countryside amid fears of aftershocks.

People slept in tents and cardboard boxes, while hundreds more bedded down on the ground with nothing more than their clothes and blankets.

Authorities put the number of injured at 120 and said three people were still in a serious condition. The number of fatalities was revised down from an earlier report of 10. Two pregnant women and a child were among those who died in the two quakes – which struck with magnitudes of 4.4 and 5.2.