An earthquake, of magnitude 4.2 according to the National Seismic Monitoring Network (Renass), was felt on Wednesday in the Belfort region as well as in northwestern Switzerland.
The tremor, detected at 3:50 p.m. 30 km from Belfort, “rocks my bookshelf and desk“, told AFP a resident of the region living at the foot of the Vosges mountains.
No serious damage
The depth was assessed at 13 km and the epicenter detected on the Swiss side in the Jura range, a few hundred meters from the border. The Swiss Seismological Service for its part evaluated the magnitude of the earthquake at 4.3, specifying that it had been “widely feltin the town of Porrentruy.
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The authorities have so far not reported serious damage on either side of the border, but some residents have had a big scare. “I felt it really strongly, like a big jolt, I was scared. It lasted two seconds, no more, but it’s the first time I’ve felt such a strong earthquake.“said Géraldine Sponem, 57, a resident of Valentigney (Doubs). “My whole house shook, it moved my bed, my wardrobe. It didn’t drop any objects, but it swayed left and right.»
Earthquakes are not uncommon on the Franco-Swiss border, where a magnitude 4.8 quake was felt in September, without causing significant damage. Historians regularly recall that a major earthquake of about magnitude 6.6 destroyed the city of Basel and caused extensive damage in the region in 1356.