An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 to 5.8 hit the west of France. The first shock in New Aquitaine was on Friday evening at 18:38, the second (aftershock) – on Saturday morning, around 4:30, according to the Central Seismological Bureau of France.
Rescuers evacuated 500 residents of one of the small towns of La Len – roofs collapsed in many houses and walls cracked.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located between the cities of Niort and La Rochelle, its magnitude ranged from 5.3 to 5.8 on the Richter scale. The hearth lay at a depth of 10 kilometers. As a result of tremors, several people were injured, about 1,100 houses were left without electricity, writes Le Figaro. The prefecture of the department reported:
“An aftershock of magnitude 5 was felt this morning at 4:27 am in the same sector of Des Sèvres… The fire and rescue services are on alert and are beginning to investigate the situation, responding to calls and checking the condition of buildings.”
The earthquake was felt in a significant part of western France: in the cities of Rennes, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Tours, Nantes, Le Mans, La Rochelle. Residents are advised not to stay inside buildings and not to approach those that look unreliable after the aftershocks. Officially, the destruction has not yet been reported, however, the French media have learned that cracks appeared in the walls of several ancient temples on the territory of the De Sevres department after the tremors, withsummarizes “Uvropeyskaya truth”.
Earthquakes for France are quite rare occurrences. The last time tremors with a magnitude of more than 5 were noted in France in 2019 – in the Drome department in the foothills of the Alps.
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