Tribune de Genève.
According to Tribune de Genève, at 16:44 yesterday, an earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale, shook Valais. The quake’s centre was 6km north of the town of Sierre at a depth of 8.3 kilometres. The quake, which lasted several seconds was felt throughout central Valais, a canton known for famous resorts such as Zermatt, Verbier and Crans-Montana.
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Local police received several calls from concerned residents, particularly in the region of Leukerbad.
According to the Swiss earthquake authority EPFZ, the first tremor was followed by three aftershocks of 1.4 at 16:48, 16:51 and 16:54.
No damage was reported.
Earthquakes of this intensity are uncommon in this region of the country. Historically, Valais has experienced damaging earthquakes of over 6 every 50 to 100 years. The last such shake happened in 1946 near Sierre, causing three deaths.
The last quake in Switzerland’s to exceed 4 occurred in December 2013 near Sargans in the canton of St. Gallen.
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B. N. Puttick says
Wish my rent was one that went down my neighbours and myself saw no reduction whatsoever.