Earthquake of magnitude 5 shakes Granada and is felt around Malaga province

The epicente of the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5, an intensity of V and a depth of two kilometres, was in the municipality of Alhendín, in Granada province. According to data from the National Geographic Institute (IGN), it occurred at 01.04 on Saturday 15 August.

Regional minister Antonio Sanz raised the Andalusian Emergency Plan to emergency phase 1 (operational level 1) in the early hours of Saturday morning due to seismic risk in Granada, following an earthquake that caused material damage and led to a tense night in several parts of the province.

The president of the regional government of Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, called on Saturday for “calm” and “extreme caution”. “A night of shock and anxiety in Granada following a magnitude 5 earthquake that has caused some material damage and was felt in several provinces. Stay calm, take great care around any damaged cornices or façades that may still come loose, and please follow all the recommendations. We are keeping a very close eye on the situation,” he said on X.

According to a message posted by the 112 emergency service on its social media accounts, the earthquake triggered more than 80 calls from all the provinces of Andalucía, except Huelva and Cadiz.

In light of the situation, Emergencias 112 Andalucía advised people to avoid entering or leaving buildings unnecessarily.In the street, it advises people to keep away from building façades, cornices, balconies, walls and any other structures that could come loose and cause damage.

This earthquake comes after an earlier tremor on Friday evening, at around 6.43pm, with a magnitude of 3.7 and an intensity of IV, was widely felt in Granada and its surrounding area. The epicentre of this quake was in La Zubia.

The 112 emergency service of the Andalusian Emergency Agency (EMA) reported that it had received calls from various towns in the central region of the province, such as the city of Granada and municipalities including La Zubia, Churriana de la Vega, Las Gabias, Ogíjares and Maracena. This Saturday’s earthquake, however, was also felt with particular intensity in Malaga.