An earthquake struck the tourist hotspot of Granada in the early hours of Saturday morning, leaving roads split in half and people trapped in damaged buildings. 

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.2, hit the city in southern Spain just after 1am local time, around midnight in the UK.

It is understood a quake, which had a depth of 2km (1.2 miles) and was followed by another at 10km (6 miles) deep, had an epicentre near the village of Otura, to the south of Granada.

Footage showed homes rattling from the tremors, while cars were could be seen buried under debris that had fallen from buildings in the aftermath. 

The earthquake also left cracks splitting entire roads as tremors shook the provinces of Granada and Malaga.

Andalusian emergency services rescued people trapped in damaged buildings. No injuries have been reported. 

The services received around 200 calls from across the region, including Seville, Cordoba and beach resorts on the Costa del Sol. 

Antonio Sanz Cabello, vice-president of the Andalusian regional government, announced in a post on X on Saturday that authorities had declared an emergency.

'If you're in Granada, you've felt the earthquake, you're okay, and your home shows no damage, stay calm and avoid entering and exiting buildings unnecessarily,' he said.

'On the street, stay away from facades, cornices, balconies, walls, and other elements that could fall.' 

A local resident captured the moment the tremor hit his home as he livestreamed on social media. 

The man speaks into the camera before he, and his living room, starts shaking.

His body can be seen moving side-to-side as his shelving cabinets bang against the walls, lasting around 20 seconds.

Regional authorities received calls reporting falling objects, shaking furniture and doors. 

The powerful jolt also damaged buildings and homes, leaving cracks in walls and, in some cases, the collapse of entire structures.

'Cracks have appeared, elements such as ledges, rubble and walls have fallen and damage has been reported in some buildings,' local emergency services said in a statement.

They urged the population to keep calm and avoid the facades, ledges, balconies and walls of buildings that could collapse, as well as not entering or leaving buildings unnecessarily. 

'We really felt the shaking, it was so strong that it woke us up,' Marta Mayorga Fernandez told public broadcaster RTVE from the town of Huetor Vega, just outside Granada.

She said she saw 'quite a lot of places with damaged door fronts' and that friends had shared photos of belongings that had fallen from shelves.

Small earthquakes in Spain's most populous region are not uncommon but they rarely reach magnitude 5.

Granada is best known for its UNESCO-listed Alhambra palace, a jewel of medieval Islamic architecture that was home to the rulers of Spain's last Muslim kingdom.

The incident follows an earthquake that hit Granada last month, measuring 3.7. 

The quake hit around 6km (3.73 miles) south of Granada on July 26.

The epicentre was in the town of Ogijares, at a depth of 6km. 

However, it was felt in several parts of Granada province as well as in several municipalities in the Malaga province.

It comes after an earthquake hit southern Spain in July 2025. 

The impact of the 5.5-magnitude quake was felt in more than 50 towns including the popular tourist resort of Alicante.

It struck at a depth of two kilometres off the coast of Almeria in south east Spain at 7.13am today, according to the country's National Geographic Institute.

Parts of a suspended ceiling at Almeria Airport crashed down around an hour after the tremors - but there were no reported injuries.

Tourists and locals in the region reported being raised from their beds by the 'strong' and 'surprisingly long' quake.

'In Roquetas De Mar it was very noticeable and it lasted a few seconds, the whole hotel room was shaking,' one visitor to the area wrote on social media.

A British ex-pat living in Almeria said the tremors gave her a 'rude awakening' and were 'pretty scary to say the least.'

Another person living in Almería said 'the whole house shook' when the quake hit.

Dramatic videos showed lamps swinging as one property was rattled by the tremors, with resident Jose Manuel Navarro saying he jumped out of bed 'to stand in the doorway'.

Tremors were also felt in towns across the Malaga, Granada and Jaen areas, as well as in the Levante region which inludes Murcia, Alicante and Albacete.