In the Western Betic Cordillera, the seismicity is less frequent and of lower magnitude than in the rest of the mountain range. It is characterized by lower to moderate magnitudes and mainly shallow earthquakes located in the upper crust (h<15 km) near the mountain front. Reverse type and strike-slip focal mechanisms predominate, in contrast to extensional mechanisms characteristic of the basins in the Central Betic Cordillera. But also, subcrustal earthquakes occur, located at intermediate depths (40-120 km) in the Internal Zone, with epicenters aligned in NNE-SSW direction from Málaga to the Moroccan coast crossing the Alboran Sea. The existence of this seismicity has given rise to different theories about its origin on which there is still no agreement. Some of the most accepted are the existence of a subduction slab of Atlantic oceanic lithosphere under the Gibraltar Arc with an eastward dip that becomes practically vertical at depth, or the occurrence of different delamination processes under the Alboran Sea.

In the historical period, several remarkable earthquakes with intensities of VIII-IX and estimated magnitudes over 6 occurred. In the Guadalquivir basin, the 1504 Carmona (Sevilla) earthquake, caused 32 fatalities, most of the buildings to collapse and extensive cracking, and in the Málaga basin, the 1680 Alhaurín el Grande (NW of Málaga) earthquake, which may have generated a tsunami. Offshore the coast of Málaga it is worth mentioning the 1494 earthquake, with intensity VIII and estimated magnitude of 6. Also noteworthy are several smaller earthquakes, of maximum intensity VII and estimated magnitude around 5.4, in 1581 in Málaga, in 1862 in Villanueva de San Juan (Sevilla) and in 1901 in Grazalema (Cádiz).

In the instrumental period, much of the seismicity is clustered in seismic series, being the area of Morón de la Frontera (Sevilla), in the northwestern front of the Cordillera, the most active region. Seismicity in this area is mainly related to the seismic series occurred between 2007 and 2009 in Morón, and in 2019 between La Puebla de Cazalla (Sevilla) and Olvera (Cádiz), where the largest earthquakes recorded were of magnitudes between 4 and 5, and maximum intensities of V. Further east, also noteworthy is the seismic series of 2006 occurred around Teba (Málaga), where a maximum magnitude of 4.4 was recorded. In this region, several earthquakes of magnitude around 5 are worth mentioning, the 1960 El Saucejo (Sevilla) earthquake and, in the more northeastern part, the 1930 (Montilla), 1935 (Benamejí), and 1985 (Espejo) earthquakes in the province of Córdoba, which were felt with a maximum intensity of VII and V, respectively.

In addition, in the southeastern sector of the Western Betic Cordillera, there is a significant group of earthquakes of intermediate depth (40-120 km). An example of these earthquakes is the one occurred in 1976 northwest of Málaga with M5.5 at a depth of 54 km and felt with a maximum intensity of IV.