An earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale struck in Frailes, half way between Granada and Jaén, around 70 miles north of Nerja (marked with a red star on the map) just after midnight last night. The Spanish National Geographic Institute initially reported that the epicentre had been in Benalúa de las Villas, but later localised it as having taken place in Frailes in Jaén province, at a depth of 10 kilometres at 00.37 hours.
No damage has been reported, but the quake was felt as far south as Motril, with many people tweeting that they had felt the tremors. In the UK a similar size quake happened on the 14th of December in Chichester, with the effects being felt as far away as Hindhead and Hove.
In May 2011 in Lorca (around 200 miles from Nerja) there was an earthquake of 5.1 on the Richter scale which caused extensive damage , leaving some 10% of the buildings in the town uninhabitable.
In December 2011 a minor earthquake of 1.6 on the Richter scale was felt in Nerja at 11.30pm. The quake had occurred four miles out to sea and also caused no damage.
There are 200 or 300 minor earthquakes in Spain each year, with large Lorca style earthquakes happening every 70 years or so.
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