3.7 magnitude earthquake shakes Monaco
Earthquakes are recorded every day on SismoAzur © SismoAzur
It was recorded on Monday evening, several kilometres off the coast of Monaco.
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Many people living along the Mediterranean coast felt the earth tremble at precisely 10.22 pm on Monday 16 December. And no wonder: there had been an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale. According to calculations by France’s Central Seismological Office (BCSF), the tremors were felt from Toulon to Italy. The epicentre was detected at sea, around 25 kilometres from Monaco.
There was no damage, but several people reported feeling the shockwave in the area. “A muffled rumbling and brief vibration for 1 or 2 seconds, in a quiet area, which surprised me,” “First a muffled noise in Levens then a small tremor, not very long but really noticeable,” “The furniture shook for a few seconds” or “A rumbling then a tremor from right to left. I’ve never felt anything like that before.” are some of the comments on Facebook. A low-intensity aftershock was detected at the same location at around 3 am.
Low-amplitude earthquakes are not uncommon in the Mediterranean due to the Ligurian fault, which is largely responsible for the high level of seismic activity in the region. It is a daily phenomenon, but often goes unnoticed by humans, according to Françoise Courboulex, a seismologist at the CNRS and for Géo Azur.