Magnitude 3.1 Quake Shakes Granada, Spain, in Ongoing Seismic Swarm

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was felt across Granada city and several municipalities in its metropolitan area on the evening of Saturday, October 3, 2026, according to Spain's Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), the country's national geographic and seismological institute.

The tremor was registered at 19:05 local time with its epicenter in Cúllar Vega, a town on the western edge of Granada's metropolitan area, at a depth of five kilometers, Telecinco and Infobae reported, both citing IGN data.

What is known so far

The quake was felt in the city of Granada and in nearby municipalities including Vegas del Genil. Spain's 112 emergency coordination center received approximately two calls from residents alerting it to the shaking, according to Telecinco and Infobae. Neither outlet reported personal injuries or material damage linked to the October 3 event.

Both reports describe the October 3 tremor as part of an active seismic series that began on August 15, 2026, noting that while the earlier phase of the series caused evacuations and structural damage, recent activity has shown decreasing intensity and longer intervals between quakes.

Background: a swarm running since mid-August

The current seismic swarm began in the area around Alhendín and Gójar, south of Granada city, according to El Pespunte, which cited IGN figures and dated the start of the series to August 14, 2026 — one day earlier than the August 15 start date cited by Telecinco and Infobae for the same series. By August 24, IGN had logged 1,075 earthquakes in that area over roughly ten days, of which 94 were felt by residents; only 12 reached or exceeded magnitude 3, El Pespunte reported.

The strongest event in the swarm struck at 1:04 a.m. on August 15, 2026, northeast of Alhendín at a depth of about two kilometers. Hogarfax reported its magnitude as 5.0–5.2, while El Pespunte, citing IGN, put the same event — along with a second quake on August 18 — at magnitude 4.8 Mw. The discrepancy reflects differing figures reported by the two outlets rather than a later revision confirmed by IGN in the material reviewed.

According to Hogarfax, the August 15 quake was felt in 191 municipalities across Granada province and as far away as Madrid, Murcia, Albacete and Ciudad Real. The regional government of Andalusia activated level 1 of its Seismic Risk Emergency Plan, and the 112 line handled more than 80 calls. Reported damage included falling cornices, cracked façades, dislodged roof elements and at least one precautionary building evacuation; no serious injuries were recorded, Hogarfax said.

El Pespunte reported that three further quakes of magnitude 3.9, 4.2 and 4.0 Mw followed the August 18 event within two hours, and that IGN received more than 20,450 citizen reports describing how the tremors were felt across the affected area.

How the swarm has evolved

El Pespunte noted that by late August the swarm showed declining intensity, with no quake exceeding magnitude 2 in the three days before its August 24 report.

Telecinco and Infobae both described the October 3 event as consistent with that declining trend, noting lower intensity and wider spacing between tremors compared with the mid-August peak.