The epicenter was located two kilometers deep off the coast of Monaco, so it was between the principality and the Nice hinterland that the phenomenon was most noticeable.
The earth shook on Monday evening on the Côte d'Azur. An earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale was detected by several institutes, including the French Central Seismological Bureau, at exactly 10:22 p.m. Of moderate strength, the phenomenon was felt from the Italian region of Liguria to Toulon, in the Var.
Moreover, the epicenter being located two kilometers deep off the coast of Monaco, it was between the principality and the Nice hinterland that the earthquake was most perceptible. However, no damage was reported. Many witnesses quickly reported the event on the website of the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center (CSEM). “I felt shaking very hard and a big boom for a few seconds”for example, wrote one of them from Menton.
Dozens of testimonies
And another added from the same locality: “I was lying in bed, and I felt a tremor for a few seconds. I knew right away it was an earthquake.”. Another witness speaks of an event “pretty scary, even though it was short. I was ready to run outside, I knew it was an earthquake.”. In Nice, yet another witness assures us: “The house shook!” Dozens of testimonies have been recorded from the Riviera capital, Antibes, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Vence and even Montauroux and Draguignan, in the Var.
Already on December 9, a magnitude 4.3 earthquake occurred late in the morning in Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The tremors were felt as far away as the coast, particularly in Nice. According to the Richter scale, an earthquake presents, a priori, no risk for the population below the bar of 5. At this level, the damage to buildings is still only “very light”.
