More than 1,000 earthquakes in just 10 days, two of them of magnitude 4.8. The seismic sequence that began on 14 August in Granada has once again raised a question that goes far beyond Andalusia: could Spain soon be hit by a major earthquake?
By 24 August, the National Geographic Institute (IGN) had recorded 1,075 tremors which were felt by the population. The two largest, with a magnitude of 4.8, were very shallow and were felt in more than 500 localities, from Andalusia to parts of Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and even the Madrid region.
Spain has far more destructive precedents. The Arenas del Rey earthquake of 1884, with an estimated magnitude of 6.5, affected more than 100 population centres and left between 750 and 900 people dead. In 1954, Dúrcal recorded a magnitude-7.8 quake, but at a depth of around 650 kilometres, which greatly limited its effects at the surface.
Does this mean Spain should brace for another major earthquake?
"The occurrence of earthquakes with a magnitude above 4 in the south and southeast of Spain is nothing unusual," emergency geologist Raúl Pérez López of the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (IGME-CSIC) tells Euronews.
