The earthquake was clearly felt around the epicenter near St. Veit – fortunately there was no damage or injuries. The 3.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the region around the city in the south of the country on Sunday evening is the second in a short space of time. Last Friday the earth trembled in Gloggnitz in Lower Austria, with the tremors being felt in large parts of eastern Austria.
According to Geosphere Austria, the earthquake happened at 10:26 p.m. and had a magnitude of 4.2. Several small aftershocks followed. On Sunday, the epicenter shifted to near St. Veit an der Glan. The tremors were sometimes strongly felt in the south of Austria, but with this strength there can only be slight damage to buildings, the Austria Press Agency quotes the Austrian Seismological Service as saying.
“It made a good rumble during the night, but we are not aware of any damage in the region so far,” said a spokesman for the municipality of St. Veit an der Glan after the quake. This was also confirmed by Jürgen Kugi from the fire brigade in an interview with “Standard”. But he himself felt the earthquake strongly: “It’s very scary. The noise was also frightening for me, it was like a loud rumble.”
According to the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, the earthquake was particularly noticeable in Klagenfurt, in addition to the areas around the epicenter. The shaking area – the area in which the earthquake can still be perceived with the human senses – would have extended to large parts of Carinthia and neighboring areas of Slovenia including the capital Ljubljana.
The region of the southern Vienna Basin is repeatedly the scene of mostly mild earthquakes. Two years ago, on March 30, 2021, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 occurred in the Neunkirchen area. This was classified as the strongest in the Vienna Basin in the past 20 years.
Sources: “Der Standard” (I), “Der Standard” (II), Austrian Broadcasting Corporation
