Tremors felt in four neighboring countries

The earth is shaking again in Austria. Witnesses reported feeling the tremors even far from the epicenter.

Vienna – Austria is not known as a typical earthquake country. And yet the earth there has been shaking more frequently lately. At the beginning of the year, earthquakes in the south of the country shook people in Carinthia awake. In mid-January, a series of earthquakes shook the western state of Tyrol, with 15 tremors within ten days. Now, at the turn of the month, the earth also shook in eastern Austria – and relatively strongly.

Nighttime earthquake of magnitude 4.4 in eastern Austria

At 2:59 a.m. on the night of February 1st, the earth shook in the south of Lower Austria. According to the geological service, it was located southwest of Gloggnitz, near the border with the state of Styria GeoSphere the epicenter of the earthquake. With a magnitude of 4.4, the earthquake was clearly felt in the area of ​​the epicenter, writes seismologist Anna Smith.

The latest earthquake was the strongest in Austria in almost three years. In spring 2021, the earth also shook in Lower Austria with a similar strength. The quake apparently woke numerous people from their sleep, as witness reports on social media show. “It really shook us out of bed at three in the morning. A real rumble,” wrote one user on Facebook.

Another user from the Lower Austrian capital reported: “In Sankt Pölten it woke me up as if a train had passed by on the roof, everything was rattling.” Another user from Styria, around 13 kilometers from the epicenter, also reported this violent tremors: “I thought it was a dream and my bed in Mürzzuschlag was taking off.”

Austria: Earthquake also felt in Vienna and possibly beyond

However, the earthquake is said to have been felt far beyond Lower Austria. There are reports of people being jolted awake from the federal capital Vienna and the Styrian state capital Graz. A reader of derstandard.at reports noticeable tremors also in western Styria. Further reports also come from Linz.

The online portal dnvenik.hr writes that the earthquake was also felt in Slovenia and northern Croatia. How today.at reported, the earthquake could also have been felt in parts of Hungary and Slovakia.

Damage to buildings cannot be ruled out in earthquakes of this magnitude. “We saw it live! Damage to and in the house,” writes a man from Ternitz on Facebook. The place is in the immediate vicinity of the epicenter in the east of Austria.

Tibet and India could face even stronger earthquakes. Giant continental plates collide beneath the Himalayas, which could lead to a rift. An expert reveals which regions in Germany are most at risk from earthquakes. (jm)