At least three people suffered minor injuries when an earthquake struck near Granada in southern Spain, damaging buildings and vehicles and prompting the temporary closure of the Alhambra palace and several other public facilities.
Spain's National Geographic Institute recorded the tremor at magnitude 4.8. Its epicentre was near Alhendin, about 10 kilometres south of Granada, and it struck at 10:37am local time, or 08:37 GMT. The institute placed its depth at less than 10 kilometres.
The shallow earthquake was felt widely. Residents left homes and gathered in streets because they feared strong aftershocks, while falling debris damaged a number of cars. The initial report did not describe life-threatening injuries or provide a complete count of affected buildings.
Museums, administrative offices and sports centres were among the facilities forced to close. The Alhambra, Granada's best-known landmark, said it would remain shut for the afternoon. The medieval Islamic palace complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and normally receives millions of visitors each year.
Granada's metro operator also imposed a temporary speed restriction. Trains were limited to 30 kilometres per hour for safety checks, with passengers warned to expect delays. The action kept services running at reduced speed rather than closing the network entirely.
The quake was the latest in a series of very shallow tremors that had begun the previous Friday, according to the geographic institute. The report described it as another event in that sequence but did not provide magnitudes, locations or damage assessments for every earlier shock.
Witness accounts conveyed the intensity experienced inside buildings. One Granada resident said the shaking in his ground-floor apartment was stronger than the occasional earthquakes familiar in the area. A laboratory worker who was inside a supermarket described items falling during the tremor. Those personal accounts illustrate conditions at particular sites and do not on their own measure the earthquake's impact across the province.
Early accounts varied on the precise magnitude, but the National Geographic Institute recorded 4.8. Officials reported injuries, closures and damage elsewhere in Granada, while the Alhambra announced a temporary closure without reporting that the palace itself had sustained structural harm.
Authorities' immediate response focused on public safety: closing heavily visited buildings, limiting train speeds and assessing damage from debris. With three reported minor injuries and no deaths in the initial account, the most significant disruption came from building and transport precautions in and around the historic city. The closures were precautionary responses reported after the shaking; the initial account did not say when every affected museum, office or sports venue would reopen.
