The people of Granada have been forced to continue with their routine while the earth trembles under their feet. Since this Saturday, at least 197 earthquakes with a magnitude equal to or greater than 1.5 have been recorded in Granada, according to the report published by the National Geographic Institute (IGN). "It is a very distressing situation, the worst part is that the ground is moving all the time. We Granadans want to convey that there is a lot of talk about the most significant earthquakes in the region but we have not only experienced that scare but since this weekend we have suffered more than 400 tremors," Marta Serrano tells 20minutos.
The young woman recently moved to the town of Alhendín, the epicenter of one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded in this series, measuring 4.2, which took place this Tuesday. Although this episode was not the only time that the municipality has trembled, since Saturday 18 earthquakes have been recorded. The last one was at 4:00 a.m. this Wednesday with a magnitude of 2.3, perceived by the population. "We feel a lot of uncertainty, we have never experienced this before. Although we know that Granada is an earthquake zone, we have not experienced them with this frequency," says Serrano.
Furthermore, the woman from Granada specifies that the fear she feels as a resident is mainly due to not having a clear answer about when these phenomena will end. "There is no consolation because everything is very random, earthquakes cannot be predicted," he says. A reality that IGN seismologist Carlos González has confirmed: "The logical thing is that the tremors last for several days, although they could last longer; we do not know how long they will end."
Marta Serrano describes a situation in which it is impossible to relax since "you are calm doing anything and an earthquake comes, it is very sad to see your city like this and it is impossible not to be scared." A feeling of "alert" shared by Marta Seijo, a 25-year-old doctor who works at the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital.
"As the tremors accumulate, people get more nervous," says the doctor. The first of Tuesday surprised her having breakfast in a cafeteria with her colleagues and she experienced the rest of the earthquakes during her shift at the hospital. "They were quite noticeable, everything was moving and there was a very unpleasant noise," describes the young woman. Their state of "continuous alert" extends to their home: "We leave our shoes at the door in case at some point we have to run."
The feeling of not being able to let your guard down and not being able to go out into the street if necessary is what most worries Nuria García, a resident of the Zaidín neighborhood who, along with her family, has had to leave her home due to the damage caused by the earthquakes. "I live on a second floor, what scares me the most is that in the next earthquake I won't be able to go outside. "I am constantly alert, any noise makes me think it is a new earthquake." Nuria says that she is not able to sleep more than four hours because her mind is thinking about when it is going to happen again.
"I am constantly alert, any noise makes me think it is an earthquake."
Fear spreads among the residents of the Andalusian province to such an extent that many have decided to spend the night in parks or esplanades. This is the case of Vanesa Maya, a neighbor from Armilla whose testimony has been collected by the Efe agency, who has slept outdoors with her entire family. "The children don't want to be in the house. We don't know what can happen. The walls of the house are burst, with everything falling on the floor," recalls Vanesa, who is receiving treatment for anxiety that has worsened with the seismic series.
María de los Ángeles, a neighbor of Churriana de la Vega, has also abandoned her home after suffering damage due to the tremors. "We are scared, I am going to spend the night in the park because my house is cracked," says the woman while explaining that she cannot access her home until it is inspected and there is no risk of collapse. "I have become very nervous, when there is an earthquake I panic. The situation is very worrying," she remarks.
The work focuses on the inspection of buildings
On Wednesday, most of the earthquakes recorded were of low intensity, so technical work to review and collapse the affected infrastructure was prioritized. The technical teams, led by the Group of Volunteer Emergency Architects (GAVE), have inspected some 580 buildings and have certified that 14 require urgent measures after the seismic series.
Of the rest, 459 have no damage and another 105 have minor damage, according to the information provided by the Andalusian Emergency Minister, Antonio Sanz. On the other hand, Andalusia's 112 emergency service has responded to 5,562 calls related to earthquakes.
