Earthquake tremors felt in Switzerland, France and Germany
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An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 4.2 struck the Laufenburg municipality in Switzerland early on Thursday. Tremors were also felt in France and Germany. Several social media users, mostly locals, posted about the quake on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. According to Swiss Seismological Service, the earthquake struck at a depth of 7.8 kms.
An earthquake handle on X said: “#Earthquake 27 km NE of #Basel (#Switzerland) 8 min ago (local time 03:06:52). Colored dots represent local shaking & damage level reported by eyewitnesses.”
“Seismic-like event, possible #earthquake, reported few minutes ago near Zurich, Züric,” another one added.
The Swiss Seismological Service further showed that Switzerland also experienced aftershocks of magnitude 1.7 and 1.4.
The Switzerland, Germany, and France region is not normally known for excessive seismic pastime compared to extra tectonically lively areas like Japan or California. However, it does experience occasional earthquakes due to its place near the boundary of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates.
Switzerland experiences moderate seismic activity, particularly in the Valais region, which is the most seismically active part of the country. Germany, on the other hand, has lower seismic activity overall. But some regions, such as the Rhine Rift Valley, experience more frequent seismic events.