2.8 magnitude Strongest earthquake since 2012 measured in the Eifel

Kobern-Gondorf · The eastern Eifel was shaken by a slight earthquake early on Monday morning. The Rhineland Palatinate state earthquake service measured a magnitude of 2.8 – the strongest earthquake in the region for many years.

A slight earthquake roused many residents in the eastern Eifel from their sleep early on Monday morning. According to measurements from the earthquake service of the Rhineland Palatinate State Office for Geology and Mining, the epicentre was in Kobern-Gondorf and it reached a magnitude of 2.8. The earthquake was measured automatically at 5.13am on Monday morning. The recorded data initially showed a magnitude of 2.6. However, the manual evaluations by the earthquake service then gave a higher magnitude. They said the quake had a depth of eight kilometres.

“Something is happening in the Eifel,” says Professor Georg Wieber from the Rhineland Palatinate State Office for Geology and Mining. A magnitude of 2.8 is definitely something, but also not dramatic. “We have the region under constant observation and are now evaluating the data in detail,” said Wieber. Quakes can be felt from a magnitude of 2. He himself lives in Koblenz but did not notice the quake during the morning, unlike other residents.

The quake was not only felt at its epicentre. The website “Erdbebennews.de” (Earthquake News) showed reports from readers over the entire Neuwied Basin region between Koblenz and Andernach. The quake was also felt around the Laacher See. “There was a clearly perceptible sound. The bed shook, the windows vibrated,” said one resident of Kobern-Gondorf. A witness in Koblenz said on the site that glasses rattled in the cupboard. “I was woken by a loud bang – like when a cupboard falls over,” said another report from Koblenz.

With a magnitude of 2.8, it is the strongest earthquake in the eastern Eifel since November 2012. On 22 November 2012, a quake of magnitude 2.8 was also measured. The epicentre was in Lonnig. No damage is expected as a result of the quake, which lasted around a minute. An earthquake in the Neuwied Basin is also not unusual. The reason for them is an approximately 15 kilometre long fault zone– the so-called Ochtendung Fault. The last earthquake there was just a few weeks ago. On 14 January, a slight earthquake with magnitude 0.3 was measured.

(Original text: Sebastian Fink. Translation: kc)

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