Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake Jolts Granada, Spain, Sending Residents Into the Streets Overnight

ORBIS WEATHER — August 15, 2026

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck southern Spain in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, its epicenter just a kilometer southwest of the town of Otura on the edge of Granada’s metropolitan area, rattling buildings across Andalusia, cracking facades and roads, and sending thousands of residents fleeing into the streets in their pajamas. No deaths or serious injuries had been reported by Saturday morning, but the quake — the strongest to hit the region in years — triggered Andalusia’s regional seismic emergency plan and left crews inspecting more than 100 buildings for structural damage.

The quake struck at approximately 1:04 a.m. local time, centered near the village of Alhendín on Granada’s southern outskirts, according to Spain’s National Geographic Institute (IGN), which initially measured the shock at magnitude 4.8 before revising it upward, first to 5.0 and then to 5.2; the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre likewise confirmed a magnitude 5.2 reading. Estimates of the depth varied by source, from a very shallow 2 kilometers to around 5 kilometers, but either figure is shallow enough to explain why the shaking felt so violent so close to the surface. Residents described the tremor lasting roughly six seconds, long enough, one Alhendín resident told local media, to watch “water sloshing around in my swimming pool, like waves in the sea. It was scary, really. It makes you feel powerless.”

The damage, while not catastrophic, was widespread. In Alhendín and neighboring towns, chunks of concrete and roof tiles shook loose from building facades, in one case falling onto a parked car; roads cracked, and several homes and vehicles were damaged badly enough to draw emergency crews. Firefighters and police rescued people trapped in stuck elevators, cordoned off unstable structures and evacuated at least a few hotels as a precaution. Andalusia’s 112 emergency line was flooded with more than 200 calls in the first hours after the quake, coming in not just from Granada but from Málaga, Sevilla, Córdoba, Jaén and Almería as well — the shaking was reportedly felt as far away as Madrid. Thousands of residents in and around Granada chose not to return to their homes overnight, instead gathering in streets and open plazas with blankets and belongings until daylight. The quake was followed by a swarm of aftershocks — at least 13 by some counts, including a magnitude-2.6 jolt just six minutes after the main shock — that continued rattling the area into Saturday morning.

Andalusia’s regional government activated Phase 1 of its seismic emergency plan within hours, mobilizing coordination between firefighters, police and civil protection services to assess damage and inspect buildings. Antonio Sanz Cabello, vice-president of the Andalusian regional government, urged calm in a statement to residents: “If you’re in Granada, you’ve felt the earthquake, you’re okay, and your home shows no damage, stay calm,” he said, advising people to avoid lingering near building entrances and to steer clear of structures that appeared unstable pending inspection.

Saturday’s quake, while unusually strong for the area, was not a surprise to seismologists who track the region. Granada sits within the Betic Cordillera, a mountain belt formed where the Eurasian, African and small Alborán microplates grind against one another beneath southern Spain, making the corridor between Granada, Almería, Málaga, Murcia and Alicante one of the country’s most seismically active zones — Spain’s National Geographic Institute has flagged the broader Alicante-to-Huelva belt as its highest hazard corridor. The Granada basin in particular has a long history of destructive shaking, most notably the 1954 Dúrcal earthquake, a magnitude 7.0 event that remains among the strongest ever recorded in mainland Spain, and more recently the 2011 Lorca earthquake in neighboring Murcia province, a magnitude 5.1 quake that killed nine people despite its relatively modest size, a reminder that shallow, moderate earthquakes in densely built areas can be just as dangerous as larger, deeper ones.

Authorities said the immediate danger appeared to be passing by Saturday morning, but cautioned that aftershocks could continue for days and urged residents to keep monitoring official channels rather than social media rumors. Orbis Weather recommends that anyone in the affected area follow guidance from Spain’s Instituto Geográfico Nacional and Andalusia’s Emergencia 112 service directly, avoid entering buildings with visible structural damage until they have been formally inspected, and keep an emergency kit — water, medication, a flashlight and a portable phone charger — on hand in case of further aftershocks.

Sources

This article was compiled from publicly available reporting for illustrative branding purposes under the Orbis Weather name. It is not an official product of Spain’s Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), the USGS, or the EMSC. For official seismic advisories and updates, consult ign.es or Andalusia’s Emergencia 112 service directly.

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Update — August 15, 2026: Tsunami Warning Lifted, Two Deaths Confirmed

Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency, BMKG, has lifted the tsunami warning issued after Friday’s magnitude 7.7 earthquake, after no significant tsunami materialized along the coastlines of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi. Reported wave heights varied by source in the hours after the quake: an early estimate put a wave near the epicenter at roughly 1.7 meters, while later monitoring described waves of under 1 meter at several coastal stations — a common pattern as preliminary readings are refined in the hours after a major offshore quake. Separately, Australia’s tsunami warning center confirmed the event posed no threat to Australian territory.

Authorities have now confirmed at least two deaths, both at the port in Maumere, in East Nusa Tenggara, along with at least one additional injury. Video from the port area showed a building collapse, and a hospital in nearby Ende district relocated patients outside as a precaution during the shaking and subsequent aftershocks. Residents in Nagekeo and Bima reported roughly a minute of intense shaking. Rescue teams remain on the ground assessing damage and casualties across Flores Island, and officials caution that the toll could still rise as assessments reach more remote areas. The aftershock sequence remains active, with magnitude 5.9, 5.6 and 6.1 events recorded within about 30 minutes of the mainshock, and further aftershocks possible in the days ahead.

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Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake Triggers Tsunami Warning Off Indonesia’s Flores Island

By Orbis Weather Staff August 14, 2026

A major magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Indonesia’s Flores Island late Friday, prompting authorities to issue an immediate tsunami warning for coastal communities across four provinces and reviving memories of a devastating quake-tsunami disaster that struck the same stretch of coastline more than three decades ago.

The Earthquake

The quake struck at 21:58 UTC (early Saturday local time) at a shallow depth, which the U.S. Geological Survey placed at about 10 kilometers and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre estimated at 35 kilometers. The epicenter was located roughly 68 kilometers (42 miles) north-northwest of Ende, a coastal city on Flores, and about 400 kilometers southeast of Makassar, in a region long known for major subduction-zone earthquakes. Seismologists initially struggled to pin down the quake’s true strength, with early magnitude estimates swinging between 7.5, 6.9 and 7.5 before settling at a final reading of 7.7 — a reminder of how quickly first-alert data can shift in the minutes after a major quake.

The shaking was intense. USGS modeling estimated that very strong ground motion likely affected more than 500,000 people on Flores Island alone, with millions more across the wider region experiencing moderate to strong shaking. The agency’s automated PAGER system assigned the event a “Yellow” alert level, indicating that some casualties and damage are possible, though the overall economic toll is expected to remain relatively contained. The quake was quickly followed by a vigorous aftershock sequence, including a magnitude 5.9 event at 22:13 UTC, a 5.6 at 22:18 UTC, a 6.1 at 22:28 UTC, and a further magnitude 6.3 aftershock roughly 15 minutes after that — a sequence forecasters expect to continue for days or weeks.

Tsunami Warning and Wave Activity

Indonesia’s meteorological and geophysics agency, BMKG, issued a tsunami warning covering 22 coastal areas across East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi provinces, with estimated wave arrival times ranging from 22:02 to 23:41 UTC — in some cases giving coastal residents only minutes of official lead time, underscoring the importance of natural warning signs like receding water and strong shaking near the coast. Early reporting indicates a tsunami wave of approximately 1.7 meters was recorded in the vicinity of the epicenter, though that figure had not yet been independently confirmed by multiple monitoring stations at the time of this writing, and officials cautioned that observed heights can vary significantly along different stretches of coastline.

A Region Scarred by 1992

The earthquake struck uncomfortably close to the epicenter of the catastrophic 1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami, a similarly sized event that killed more than 2,500 people and remains one of the deadliest tsunami disasters in Indonesian history. That history has heightened concern among disaster officials, who also warn that the region’s building stock — much of it unreinforced brick and masonry construction — is especially vulnerable to strong shaking, raising the risk of structural collapses and secondary hazards such as landslides in Flores’ steep, mountainous terrain.

Current Status

As of this writing, no confirmed casualties or damage reports had emerged from Flores or the surrounding provinces, though communications and assessments from remote coastal areas often lag in the immediate aftermath of a major quake. Authorities urged residents in low-lying coastal zones to remain away from the shoreline and move to higher ground until tsunami warnings are formally lifted. Orbis Weather will provide updates as official damage assessments, casualty figures and tsunami confirmation data become available.

Compiled from The Watchers, The Weather Network, CNN, NBC News, Bloomberg and El-Balad reporting.

Sources

M7.4 Earthquake Strikes Western Colombia, Killing Dozens and Collapsing Pereira Airport Terminal

By Orbis Weather Staff | August 10, 2026

A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake tore through western Colombia early Monday morning, killing at least 20 people — with some reports putting the toll as high as 29 and climbing — collapsing a regional airport terminal, and triggering building collapses across several cities in the country’s coffee-growing region. The U.S. Geological Survey has issued an Orange Alert, its second-highest casualty and damage warning level, and estimates roughly a one-in-three chance the death toll ultimately surpasses 1,000.

The quake

The earthquake struck at approximately 7:34 a.m. local time, centered near the small town of San José del Palmar in Colombia’s remote Chocó department, roughly 280 to 400 kilometers west of Bogotá. USGS placed the rupture at a depth of about 96 to 107 kilometers — deep enough to have likely tempered surface shaking intensity somewhat, though clearly not enough to prevent widespread destruction. Colombia’s own seismological service initially registered the quake at a lower 6.6 magnitude before revising it upward to match international estimates. No tsunami warning was issued, though shaking was felt as far away as Ecuador and the Colombian capital.

Damage and casualties mount

The heaviest confirmed casualties are concentrated in Pereira and Manizales, both in Colombia’s central coffee region. Pereira’s mayor, Mauricio Salazar, reported 18 deaths in his city and said additional people remained trapped in collapsed buildings as rescue crews worked through the morning. Manizales Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas confirmed two deaths there. Some outlets, including CNN, reported the toll climbing as high as 29 in later updates, underscoring how fluid the casualty count remains as search-and-rescue teams reach harder-hit areas.

Structural damage was reported across a wide swath of the country. The passenger terminal at Matecaña International Airport in Pereira partially collapsed, grounding regional air travel, though no casualties were confirmed at the airport itself. A four-story building in Manizales partially collapsed with injuries reported among occupants. Colombian officials also reported significant damage in Quibdó, the Chocó provincial capital, as well as in Cali and Armenia. In Cundinamarca department, two buildings were damaged, including a school. Choco Governor Nubia Córdoba described it as “a major earthquake” and said officials were bracing for aftershocks to compound the damage.

A strong aftershock rattles Bogotá

Hours after the main shock, a magnitude 6.3 aftershock struck closer to the capital at around 10:52 a.m. local time, rattling Bogotá directly and prompting mass evacuations of office buildings and homes across the city. Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said major hospitals remained operational but ordered public schools closed for the day as officials inspected bridges, highways and older buildings for damage. At least 20 homes were damaged in and around the capital, and a church facade collapsed in Villavicencio, roughly 80 kilometers southeast of Bogotá. The Colombian peso weakened and infrastructure-linked stocks slid as markets weighed the potential economic fallout; a full damage assessment for the capital region was promised by the end of the week.

Elevated risk of a rising toll

USGS modeling flags Chocó as especially vulnerable given its isolated, mountainous terrain, prevalence of mud-wall construction, and saturated tropical soils — conditions that raise the risk of landslides and soil liquefaction compounding the earthquake’s direct damage. Colombian authorities have warned residents in the affected departments to remain alert for aftershocks as emergency crews continue search-and-rescue operations and structural assessments in the hardest-hit communities.

Regional context

Monday’s earthquake lands just weeks after a devastating sequence of earthquakes struck neighboring Venezuela in late June, which killed more than 6,000 people — a reminder of how seismically active the northern Andes region has been this year. Colombia’s Chocó department, which sits along a complex tectonic boundary near the Pacific Ring of Fire, has a history of major earthquakes, including a damaging quake in the region three decades ago.

Orbis Weather will continue monitoring this developing story, including the evolving casualty count, aftershock activity, and rescue operations in Chocó, as more information becomes available.

Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera, Tech Times, Newsweek, CNN, Yahoo News, and Roic News.

Sources

Strongest Quake in 40 Years Rattles Naples’ Campi Flegrei, Injures Ten

Magnitude 4.7 tremor strikes volcanic caldera west of Naples as bradyseism unrest intensifies; buildings damaged, transit halted, port closed

Orbis Weather — July 31, 2026

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Campi Flegrei volcanic caldera near Pozzuoli, just west of Naples, Italy, at 7:46 p.m. local time on Friday, sending residents into the streets and causing the most significant damage the region has seen in roughly four decades.

The quake’s epicenter was located about 5 kilometers from central Pozzuoli, with Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) revising the depth to approximately 2.6 kilometers after initial estimates placed it slightly deeper. The shallow depth amplified the shaking, which was felt widely across greater Naples and on the nearby islands of Ischia and Procida. A magnitude 2.6 aftershock followed at 8:49 p.m., one of at least ten smaller tremors recorded in the hours after the main shock.

Damage and disruption

By late evening, Italy’s Department of Civil Protection said ten people had suffered minor, “yellow-code” injuries; no deaths were reported. Officials said several uninhabited buildings collapsed, and a partial wall collapse was reported on a residential building along Via Pergolesi in Pozzuoli. A rockfall from a hillside above Via Sottopasso Savino Vitagliano sent debris onto homes and parked cars, and a high-voltage transmission tower partially collapsed in the nearby Agnano district, contributing to power outages across the Fuorigrotta and Bagnoli neighborhoods and the broader Naples–Pozzuoli grid. Crews had partially restored electricity using backup systems by late evening.

Transportation across the city ground to a halt as a precaution. All national rail services through the Naples hub — high-speed, intercity and regional lines — were suspended, along with the Cumana commuter line, after a section of tunnel wall partially collapsed onto its tracks. Naples’ Metro Lines 1 and 2 ran with delays of up to 100 minutes. The Pozzuoli harbor authority declared the town’s main dock unusable, halting ferry service to Ischia and Procida. Minor landslides and debris flows were also reported in outlying areas.

Pozzuoli Mayor Luigi Manzoni urged residents to “maintain calm” and activated the town’s emergency operations center. Italy’s national Crisis Unit, led by Civil Protection department head Fabio Ciciliano, convened to coordinate the response and opened two reception centers for displaced residents — one on Via Terracina in Naples and another at Palatrincone in Pozzuoli.

A caldera under pressure

Friday’s earthquake is the latest and largest in a swarm of tremors linked to bradyseism, the slow cycle of ground uplift and subsidence driven by heat and fluid pressure beneath the Campi Flegrei caldera, one of the most closely watched volcanic systems in the world. Seismic activity in the area has intensified markedly since 2023 as the ground beneath Pozzuoli has continued to rise, a process scientists attribute to shifting gas and fluid pressure in the volcanic system’s shallow crust rather than an imminent magmatic eruption.

The director of the Vesuvius Observatory, INGV’s monitoring center for the region, said the uplift rate near the epicenter has continued to accelerate and that further seismic activity in the area should be expected. Despite the severity of Friday’s shock, Italian authorities have not raised the volcanic alert level, which remains at yellow — signifying heightened monitoring rather than an active eruptive threat.

Campi Flegrei’s last comparably strong period of unrest culminated in the 1980s, when a bradyseism crisis forced the evacuation of roughly 40,000 residents from Pozzuoli’s historic center. Scientists have cautioned since the current unrest began that, while an eruption is not considered imminent, the region’s dense population and aging building stock leave it vulnerable to structural damage even from moderate quakes — a risk Friday’s tremor underscored.

Civil Protection officials said structural inspections of damaged buildings, the Cumana rail tunnel and the Pozzuoli dock would begin Saturday, with rail and ferry services expected to remain suspended until engineers complete safety checks.

Sources: INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia); Italian Department of Civil Protection; Il Fatto Quotidiano; Il Sole 24 Ore; Euro Weekly News; Quotidiano Nazionale; NapoliToday.