One of the most powerful earthquakes of the past twenty years occurred in France this Friday, June 16, 2023. The earthquake was felt in several departments in the West.
The earth shook this Friday, June 16, 2023, at 6:38 p.m., in France. It would be the most powerful earthquake that has been recorded in the country since 2002. The earthquake was of a magnitude greater than 5 on the Richter scale, according to the French Seismological Central Bureau. Several departments located in the west of the country felt the shock. Among them, Deux-Sèvres, department of the epicenter, Charente-Maritime, Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne or Vienne. The epicenter of this earthquake would be located between La Rochelle and Niort, 28 kilometers south-west of the latter town, in the Courçon sector, reports the Deux-Sèvres prefecture.
In short, earthquake of M4.9 between Niort and La Rochelle. No significant damage expected. Well felt up to 200km and more weakly up to about 400 km
On average near the epicenter the tremor could cause objects to fall, but nothing very serious.
1/n pic.twitter.com/Xb08PRyE2q—EMSC (@LastQuake) June 16, 2023
“At this hour, a lightly injured [à Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon, ndlr.] was taken care of by the emergency services. Numerous material damages were reported in the south-west of the department of Two Sevres“, further indicates the prefecture, which specifies that “some buildings may have been affected” and evokes falling rocks or even cracks. According to France Bleu Poitou, part of the city center of Niort would have been cordoned off, falling pieces of stones oblige. Vienna also, the firefighters told France Télévisions that they had been contacted for numerous “building cracks”.
1,100 homes without electricity and collapsed roofs
If the prefecture of Charente Maritime does not deplore any victims, numerous material damages have already been reported. 1,100 homes were left without electricity as a result of this earthquake. It looks like a power line was hit. The Enedis teams are on deck. Cracks have also appeared on the buildings. Franceinfo even reports that in La Laigne, roofs would have collapsed. Also in Charente-Maritime, “big damage” was noted by the mayor of Courçon-d’Aunis on the church of the town. At the microphone of franceinfo, the mayor of La Rochelle reported “a fairly significant vibration of the ground for at least thirty seconds”, specifying that the earthquake had generated a “rumbling”. Note that the prefectures of Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime call not to overload the emergency telephone lines, unless, of course, there is a major emergency.