Summer Rock concerts aside, we’re referring to the continuous seismic activity around the Vega de Granada, because in just 24 hours they picked up 50 seismic movement big enough to register; i.e., over 1.0 on the Richter Scale.

Before anybody flies into a panic, the accompanying photograph is of the town of Lorca which suffered a quake in 2011, therefore it is not the city of Granada and not the result of a recent quake. Damage in Granada has been limited to cracks in walls and falling masonry (external cornices).

Between Tuesday night and yesterday, the ground continued to shake with an earth tremor of 3.4 under Ogíjares at 22.35h local time.

The latest one (from the point of view of when this article was written) was at 19.14h registering a 3.0 at zero kilometres, meaning that it was less than 1,000 metres down.

As we mentioned before, the closer it is to the surface, the more damage it does, so that they 5.2 earth quake that destroyed parts of the town of Lorca, (see photo) was at such a shallow depth that it was equivalent to a 7.4 magnitude quake at a greater depth. Food for thought, then.

The Instituto Geográfico Nacional, which records seismic movements all cross the planet, clocked nine seismic shocks of between 1.5 and 2.5 by 08.00h yesterday morning, but owing to the depth that some occurred, hardly anybody noticed.. 

But they kept coming during the morning and afternoon, with a stronger one at 12.32h, registering 2.8 underneath Ogíjares, which was felt in the city of Granada and the surrounding area. Then in the afternoon two more shook Armilla and Alhendín, registering 2.0 or less.

Since the quake on the 15th, shock after shock have occurred to the south of the city of Granada and things could carry on like this. On the one hand, it is good that they are occurring because it means tectonic stress is dissipating, but on the other, you only need on registering 5.0 at less that 1,000 metres down (classified as surface) for considerable structural damage to occurred.

Thankfully, all buildings in the last 40 years have been built to resist seismic shock because we live right on a tectonic fracture below out feet up here at the foot of the Sierra Nevada.

If there is a forest fire, you have prior warning and you can get out of the way. If there is a torrential flood, you have weather warnings so you can be prepared… but there is no prior warning for an earthquake, so where ever you find yourself, you had better hope that it is out in the open and not in an upstairs flat.

The bathtub is your friend, (if it is a good solid one) so make sure you have bottles of water next to it if you only have time to shelter there because help might take a while to arrive. Alternatively get between a solid wardrobe or cupboard and the corner of the room (triangle of life) because it’s those areas that give you at chance of surviving.

But in the end, it’s like adopting the brace position on an aeroplane about to crash; you are lucky or you are not.

(News: Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Seismic Activities Continues, Bathtub, Instituto Geografico Nacional, shocks

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