Granada has registered a new earthquake of provisional magnitude 3.1 this Wednesday. The National Geographic Institute (IGN) has located the epicenter northeast of Churriana de la Vega, with an initially estimated depth of five kilometers. The movement occurred at 9:54 in the morning, according to the official peninsular time corresponding to the IGN record. The agency indicates that the magnitude calculation is provisional, so the data may be revised later.
The new earthquake is added to the activity that has kept the metropolitan area of Granada with numerous low-magnitude movements since August 14. The series has a special impact in the surroundings of Alhendín, Gójar, and La Zubia, south of the capital. The latest report from the IGN placed the number of registered earthquakes at 1,693 within this series up to September 7. Of them, 150 had been felt by the population, according to the data collected by the agency.
Most of the movements had magnitudes below 2 and occurred at very shallow depths, less than ten kilometers. The IGN had then counted twelve earthquakes of magnitude equal to or greater than 3 within the series. The activity has continued over the past few weeks. The IGN's own record includes, among other recent movements, earthquakes located in the surroundings of Churriana de la Vega, La Zubia, Gójar, Armilla, and other localities in the metropolitan area.
Two earthquakes of 4.8 marked the episode
The two largest magnitude movements of the series occurred on August 15 and 18, both with a magnitude of 4.8. The first had its epicenter in the surroundings of Alhendín and the second in the area of Gójar.
Both were widely felt and were perceived in more than 500 localities, mainly in central and eastern Andalusia, although also in points of Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, and the Community of Madrid. The IGN established a maximum observed intensity of V-VI on the EMS-98 scale in populations of Granada for both.
After those two main earthquakes, several aftershocks of magnitudes 3.9, 4.2, and 4.0 were recorded on August 18, in addition to another movement of magnitude 3.7 recorded on the 14th. The series also included an earthquake of magnitude 3.6 on July 26 southwest of Armilla, prior to the start of the series counted since August 14.