Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake near Granada — at a Depth of Just Two Kilometres

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake shook the province of Granada in the early hours of 15 August. Its focus lay only two kilometres below the surface — exceptionally shallow — and it was felt as far as Málaga, 83 kilometres away. Four smaller quakes had preceded it within 16 hours.

The quake struck at 01:04:40 local time (23:04 UTC), with its epicentre at NE Alhendín, some eight kilometres from the city of Granada. Five independent seismic networks recorded it, led by Spain's Instituto Geográfico Nacional.

Why it reached so far

What matters is not magnitude alone, but depth. At two kilometres, the focus was practically directly beneath the surface. The energy released has almost no rock to travel through before it arrives — which is why a shallow quake feels considerably more violent than one of equal magnitude at 100 kilometres depth. That is why it was noticed as far away as the Costa del Sol.

Four quakes came first

What preceded the main shock is remarkable. Within 16.4 hours, four further quakes were measured within a radius of less than five kilometres: a M1.9 at 08:39, a M3.7 at 18:43, a M2.2 at 20:03 and — exactly one hour before the main shock — a M2.3 at 00:04.

In hindsight this reads like a textbook foreshock sequence. One important caveat: such sequences can only ever be identified as foreshocks afterwards. Beforehand they are indistinguishable from the ordinary swarms that occur in this region regularly. No prediction could have been drawn from them.

Why the figures changed

The first published values were magnitude 4.8 at ten kilometres depth. Within half an hour they were revised to 5.0 at two kilometres. This is normal: the first solution is generated automatically from a handful of stations, after which further networks report in and a specialist reviews the result. Depth in particular is the value that shifts most often, and most significantly.

How active is the region?

The Granada Basin is among the most seismically active areas in Spain. Our own monitoring shows 28 earthquakes there in the past 30 days and 72 over 100 days — the vast majority far too small to be felt by anyone. The 15 August quake is the strongest we have recorded there since our records began on 10 May 2026.

What happens next

As of 01:45 local time, no aftershocks had been recorded. Following a quake of this magnitude at such shallow depth, smaller aftershocks are nonetheless to be expected over the coming hours and days. Every earthquake in real time on the live map at meteo365.es.

Data as of 15 August 2026, 01:45 CEST (23:45 UTC). Sources: IGN and four further seismic networks.