24 Heures.
Some in the Swiss canton of Fribourg might have felt the earth wobble on Tuesday morning when a quake of 3.3 on the richter scale occurred. The exact location of the quake was 9.8 kilometres north west of the Schwarzsee, according to the Swiss seismological service in Zurich.
Schwarzsee © Hai Huy Ton That | Dreamstime.com
09:18 Séisme de magnitude 3.3 à St. Silvester FR. Susceptible d’être ressenti. Aucun dégât probable. https://t.co/TDoTbQCEJI
— Service Sismologique (@seismoCH_F) June 6, 2017
While noticeable to those nearby, a shake of this magnitude rarely causes any damage. It is a reminder that Switzerland straddles the intersection of the European and African lithospheric plates.
A similar quake of 3.4 was experienced in Valais on 2 June. A total of 800 mild quakes occur every year in Switzerland, however a larger shake could arrive unpredictably say experts.
The largest recorded quake in Switzerland measured 6.6 and destroyed much of Basel in 1356. The damage was similar to that in San Francisco in 1906.
According to the Swiss seismological service, there have been at least 12 Alpine earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 or more over the past one thousand years. The last major Alpine earthquake took place in 1976 in northern Italy.
More on this:
24 Heures article (in French) - Take a 5 minute French test now
Earthquakes and the Alps – Swiss seismological service (in English)
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