Spain’s cherished tourist hotspot of Granada was in shock on Saturday after a rare 5.0-magnitude earthquake woke residents in the middle of the night and damaged buildings in the southern city.
The tremor took place shortly after 1:00 am (2300 GMT Friday) with its epicentre in the town of Alhendin, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Granada, according to the National Geographical Institute (IGN).
“No casualties or serious, widespread structural damage have been reported. Isolated damage is being assessed, especially in vulnerable buildings,” Granada’s mayor Marifran Carazo wrote on X.
Andalusian emergency services said they had received more than 200 calls from across the region, including Seville, Cordoba and beach resorts on the Costa del Sol.
“Cracks have appeared, elements such as ledges, rubble and walls have fallen and damage has been reported in some buildings,” it said in a statement.
They urged the population to keep calm and avoid the facades, ledges, balconies and walls of buildings that could collapse, as well as not entering or leaving buildings unnecessarily.
Images shared by Spanish media showed rubble strewn on the streets of Granada and cars with their windows smashed.
“We really felt the shaking, it was so strong that it woke us up,” Marta Mayorga Fernandez told public broadcaster RTVE from the town of Huetor Vega, just outside Granada.
She said she saw “quite a lot of places with damaged door fronts” and that friends had shared photos of belongings that had fallen from shelves.
Small earthquakes in Spain’s most populous region are not uncommon but they rarely reach magnitude 5.
Granada is best known for its UNESCO-listed Alhambra palace, a jewel of medieval Islamic architecture that was home to the rulers of Spain’s last Muslim kingdom.
