Series of earthquakes rock Spain’s Granada

OVIEDO, Spain

Dozens of small earthquakes and aftershocks continued shaking Spain’s Granada province on Wednesday, after strong tremors drove many residents to seek shelter outside overnight.

Within less than 30 minutes late Tuesday night, three large earthquakes were detected -- one with a magnitude of 4.5 and two more that came in at 4.2 on the Richter scale, according to Spain’s National Geographic Institute (IGN).

Hundreds of residents in Granada and nearby towns fled their homes to seek shelter on the streets, in defiance of local curfews set to reduce COVID-19 contagion.

Despite the relatively low magnitude of the earthquakes, the fact that they are “superficial”, or taking place less than 10 km (6.2 miles) below ground, means they are perceived to be stronger than if they were deeper.

The damage has been generally limited to objects, tiles, and some roofing falling, while large cracks emerged in other buildings.

No structural damage occurred in Granada’s famed Alhambra, except for in a section of the battlement, which the Alhambra’s Board of Trustees said Wednesday will be reinforced.

The region continued shaking throughout Wednesday, and experts suggest the seismic activity could continue for weeks or even months at low magnitudes.

Since Jan. 23, around 310 earthquakes have been registered in the area, though only eight had magnitudes of above 3.0, Spain’s IGN reported Wednesday.

Granada is located in one of Spain’s most seismically active regions.

Although earthquakes are expected to remain small for the short-term, the area has been rocked by significant earthquakes in the past.

The earliest on record occurred in 1431, causing major damage to the Alhambra. The worst was in 1884, which killed more than 800 people and was over a magnitude of 9.0, according to the IGN estimates.