Magnitude 3.6 earthquake shakes Granada’s metro area, no injuries or damage reported
A shallow magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck Armilla, just southeast of Granada, on Sunday afternoon, rattling a dozen municipalities but leaving no injuries or structural damage. The tremor was followed by two smaller aftershocks within the hour.
The main shock
On Sunday, 26 July 2026, at 15:39 local time, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck the metropolitan area of Granada in southern Spain. The National Geographic Institute (IGN) located the epicentre southeast of Armilla, a municipality adjacent to the capital, and placed it at the surface, zero kilometres depth. That extreme shallowness amplified the felt intensity, with residents describing it as a sharp, brief jolt lasting a couple of seconds. The IGN first reported the tremor as magnitude 3.7 with an epicentre in Ogíjares but revised both the magnitude and the epicentre after recalculation. Civil Protection briefly issued a provisional magnitude of 4.4, though the official IGN 3.6 figure stood. No personal injuries or material damage have been recorded, the 112 emergency coordination centre confirmed.
Aftershocks and earlier tremors
Minutes after the main shock, at 15:46, an aftershock of magnitude 1.7 occurred, again with an epicentre in Armilla but at a depth of six kilometres. A second shallow aftershock, magnitude 2.0, shook Alhendín at 16:11. The province had already registered weaker seismic activity earlier in the day: two magnitude 1.6 earthquakes struck near Loja, to the west of Granada, at 12:39 and 13:18.
- Magnitude 1.6 earthquake near Loja
- Magnitude 1.6 earthquake near Loja
- Main shock: magnitude 3.6, epicentre in Armilla, depth 0 km
- Aftershock: magnitude 1.7, epicentre in Armilla, depth 6 km
- Aftershock: magnitude 2.0, epicentre in Alhendín, shallow depth
Response and safety
Emergency line 112 received 44 calls from residents across ten municipalities: Granada city, Monachil, Huétor‑Vega, Maracena, Alhendín, Ogíjares, Cúllar Vega, Vegas del Genil, La Zubia and Armilla. Operators confirmed that no damages were linked to the quake. The Andalusia Emergency Agency (EMA) repeated its standard self‑protection guidance for earthquakes, recommending households keep a first‑aid kit and know how to disconnect gas, water and electricity in an emergency.
Regional seismic context
Granada province is one of Spain’s most seismically active regions, sitting near the collision zone of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates. July 2026 has been a particularly restless month: earlier tremors of note were recorded in Montillana, near the border with Jaén province, and in Gorafe, in the Guadix comarca. Sunday’s magnitude 3.6 quake, though moderate, was among the strongest felt in the metropolitan area for several weeks, yet it caused no structural harm, consistent with the province’s long‑standing building preparedness for minor seismic events.
