An earthquake was felt in much of western France on Friday. The 5.5 magnitude earthquake, according to the French Central and Seismological Bureau
was felt around 6:40 p.m. in the Sarthe
in La Rochelle, Maine-et-Loire, in Poitou
in Bordeaux, in Mayenne
in Brittany
, in Dordogne
In Loire-Atlantique and Vendée
, in Limousin
, but also to Paris. The epicenter of the earthquake is located in Cram-Chaban, in Charente-Maritime, between Niort and La Rochelle. According to a seismologist, “It’s an area that doesn’t move very often, but has sustained activity.”
A lightly injured in Niort
In Niort, in Deux-Sèvres, there is currently only one minor injury in Mauzé, after the magnitude 5.3 earthquake. Numerous material damage was reported in the south-west of the Deux-Sèvres department. Some buildings may have been hit (falling rocks, cracks), as observed by France Bleu Poitou. At 7 p.m., the Gironde firefighters assured that there was no damage in the department.
The Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sèvres prefectures recall that it is “It is important not to overload the emergency telephone lines, and to contact them only in the event of an emergency.” At 8:15 p.m., 1,100 homes were without electricity in Charente-Maritime, according to the prefecture.
Many testimonies after the earthquake
Once the shock was felt, Internet users testified on social networks as well as to the radio stations of the France Bleu network. A surfer from Niort, at about thirty kilometers from the epicentersaid to have felt like “an underground explosion while gardening quietly”. Aurélie, a Niortaise, describes a surprising shock: “The house, the staircase, everything shook, we were very scared, it was impressive” she says on Twitter.
Thérèse, a resident of Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne, was also very scared: “I felt the house creak, I was scared. I felt the ground move, it’s the first time I’ve felt such a jolt, it’s weird to feel that” she tells France Bleu Mayenne. In the Limousin, Catherine had “the fear of [sa] life”. “It shook very hard the scaffolding that I have outside. I thought it was a plane or a truck” says this resident of Bussière-Galant to France Bleu Limousin. ” I thought it was a truck passing in my street” also entrusts an Angevin to France Bleu.
“The hangers moved and the aquarium vibrated! It was impressive” describes Alain, a resident of Nantes, to France Bleu Loire Océan. Eric saw his furniture shaking: “I managed to hold my TV before it fell on the floor”, he tells France Bleu Poitou. Same feeling in the Dordogne: “The parquet creaked, and small objects moved on the shelf” assures Karine to France Bleu Périgord. In Luçon (Vendée), Aurélie, the owner of a bar, had trouble understanding what was going on : “I wondered if it was me who was shaking or if it was something else”she said to France Bleu Loire Océan.
La Rochelle also felt the ground shake. “It was more impressive in height, for people who were in houses, than for those who were outside”explained this Friday on franceinfo Jean-François Fountaine, mayor of La Rochelle, I was on the old port and we felt a fairly significant ground vibration for at least thirty seconds”. An inspection of municipal buildings is underway.
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An area used to earthquakes?
According to Yann Klinger, seismologist, CNRS researcher at the Institut de physique du globe de Paris, “it’s an area that doesn’t move very often, but has sustained activity”, he explained on franceinfo this Friday evening. “These are the remains of old faults that were active a very long time ago. They are mainly located south of the Armorican Massif. So we have this residual activity”.
A magnitude of 5.3 is a phenomenon “rare” in France, assures Yann Klinger. “It is rather a major earthquake for the metropolitan territory” explains the seismologist who predicts some slight damage: “It would not be surprising if it caused some cracks in constructions, even falling tiles, chimneys”. Aftershocks of this earthquake could also occur “of the order of 4 or 3”.
