The Iberian Peninsula is only at a moderate risk from earthquakes, although every 200 odd years ,an earthquake as big as 6 on the Richter Scale will inevitably occur. Iberia, once a plate of its own, is clashed between Africa and Eurasia, and is now fused to and part of the Eurasia. That old saying of Africa begins at the Pyrenees is geologically wrong as well as being xenophobic horseshit, but in a very real tectonic sense Europe did once begin at the nascent Pyrenees. Although major friction is, for the time being, a thing of the past, ever so slowly and so powerfully the African and Eurasian plates still move towards each other, and this most commonly manifests itself in the Pyrenees, themselves forged, folded and formed by the ancient clash of the two plates; and in the south-west of the Peninsula, which lies closest to the fault line. That said, Iberia is in no way as active as Southern Italy, Greece or Turkey, where the whole of Africa is in the process of shearing under Eurasia.
There are lots of destructive earthquakes in the Iberian peninsula in recent centuries. The worst earthquakes in the Pyrenees in the historical record were in the Olot region from 1427 to 1428 with intensities of greater than X*. (An X-intensity earthquake means most buildings are damaged or destroyed. Roads and brides get buckled and broken. The grounds cracked open. Rivers are thrown from their course). This assumes historical descriptions are reliable. It seems they were. Olot was completely destroyed, with extensive damage across Gerona.800 people were killed. Since the 15th century there have been 17 earthquakes in the Pyrenees with an intensity greater than VIII and, four greater than IX.
Destructive earthquakes have also occured in Andalusia in the Cordillera Bética, and to a lesser extent in the Guadalquivir Depression. The single and most deadly earthquake in modern Spanish history occurred in Arenas de Rey in Granada in 1884 (see photo below) with an estimated magnitude of 6.5-7 (Richter) and an intensity of 10 (MSK). Almost 800 people were killed and 1,500 were injured. 14,000 homes were destroyed. Clearly, an earthquake today in Spain would be serious, but it would not cause anything this amount of destruction. And, the fact that that many years tend to pass between one and the next means there is little awareness of the tiny but potential risk. There is no folk memory. Then again, why should there be. Hundreds die on the roads every year and we continue to get into our cars. Just because something is more spectacular does not mean it is more risky.
Images from Arenas de Rey earthquake, 1884. 800 people were killed.
Most significant earthquakes in Spain (1300-2004)
Source:http://www.iberianature.com/material/earthquake.htm
