List of earthquakes in Switzerland

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This is a list of earthquakes in Switzerland:

Earthquakes

Date (UTC)Location Mag. MMI DeathsInjuriesComments
1295 Churwalden 6.5±0.5VIIIMw [1]
1356 Basel 6.7–7.1X300Mw [2]
1524 Ardon 5.8VIIIDamaging [3]
1584 Aigle 5.9VIII320Triggered a tsunami in Lake Geneva. Most deaths associated with a Mw 5.4 aftershock which triggered a rockfall. [3]
1601 Unterwalden 6.2VIII9Triggered a tsunami in Lake Lucerne. [4]
1755 Sierre 6.1VIIIMw [5]
1855 Visp 6.4VIII1Mw [6] Only casualty was a person killed by rockfall. [7]
1946 Sierre 6.2VIII4Destructive and one death in France. Rockslides.
Note: Only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

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<i>Europolemur klatti</i> Extinct species of mammal

Europolemur klatti was a medium to large size adapiformes primate that lived on the continent of Europe from the middle to early Eocene. One possible relative to this species is Margarita stevensi, whose type specimen is about the size of a white-footed sportive lemur. Characteristic of most adapines are the reduced or absence of a paraconid and morphology of the paracristid. These and a few other features are synapomorphies that were used to link E. klatti with Leptadapis priscus and Microadapis sciureus, as well as Smilodectes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valais Ocean</span> Subducted ocean basin. Remnants found in the Alps in the North Penninic nappes.

The Valais Ocean is a subducted oceanic basin which was situated between the continent Europe and the microcontinent Iberia or so called Briançonnais microcontinent. Remnants of the Valais ocean are found in the western Alps and in tectonic windows of the eastern Alps and are mapped as the so-called "north Penninic" nappes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1356 Basel earthquake</span> 6.0–7.1 Mw earthquake in Switzerland

The 1356 Basel earthquake is the most significant seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history and had a moment magnitude in the range of 6.0–7.1. This earthquake, which occurred on 18 October 1356, is also known as the Sankt-Lukas-Tag Erdbeben, as 18 October is the feast day of Saint Luke the Evangelist.

<i>Palaeocoma</i> Extinct genus of brittle stars

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<i>Ticinepomis</i> Extinct genus of coelacanths

Ticinepomis is an extinct genus of coelacanth lobe-finned fish which lived during the Middle Triassic period in what is now Switzerland. It contains two species, T. peyeri and T. ducanensis.

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Induced seismicity in Basel led to suspension of its hot dry rock enhanced geothermal systems project. A seismic-hazard evaluation was then conducted, resulting in the cancellation of the project in December 2009. Basel, Switzerland sits atop a historically active fault and most of the city was destroyed in a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in 1356. But the Basel project, although it had established an operational approach for addressing induced earthquakes, had not performed a thorough seismic risk assessment before starting geothermal stimulation.

The 1935 Digor earthquake occurred on 1 May at Digor, Kars in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It had a moment magnitude of 6.1 and caused 540 fatalities.

The 1997 Cariaco earthquake occurred on July 9 at 15:24:14 local time with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). With its epicenter near Cariaco, Venezuela, at least 81 people were killed and over 500 were injured. Disruption of power, telephone, and water services was reported. This earthquake was felt in much of northeastern Venezuela and could also be felt in Trinidad and Tobago. This earthquake was on the strike-slip El Pilar Fault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ophiopetra</span> Genus of brittle stars

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Engadin window</span> Exposure of penninic rock lying below the austroalpine rocks

The Engadin window or is a tectonic window that exposes penninic units lying below the austroalpine units in the alpine nappe stack. It has a roughly elliptical shape with the long axis striking northwest-southeast and dimensions of 55 x 17 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of France</span>

The regional geology of France is commonly divided into the Paris Basin, the Armorican Massif, the Massif Central, the Aquitaine Basin, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Côte languedocienne, the Sillon rhodanien, the Massif des Vosges, the Massif Ardennais, the Alsace graben and Flanders Basin.

Amanzia is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Reuchenette Formation in Moutier, Switzerland. The type and only species is Amanzia greppini, originally named as a species of Ornithopsis and Cetiosauriscus.

The Besano Formation is a geological formation in the southern Alps of northwestern Italy and southern Switzerland. This formation, a thin but fossiliferous succession of dolomite and black shale, is famous for its preservation of Middle Triassic (Anisian–Ladinian) marine life including fish and aquatic reptiles. It is exposed in the Monte San Giorgio and Besano area. It is among the formations responsible for the area being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Switzerland, it is also known as the Grenzbitumenzone. The Anisian-Ladinian boundary lies in the upper part of the Besano Formation.

The Engadine Line is an over 50-kilometre (30 mi) long strike-slip fault in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, which extends into Italy and Austria. It runs along the Engadine Valley and the Bregaglia Valley and offsets Austroalpine and Penninic units in a sinistral direction. The western end of the fault appears to peter out into ductile deformation in the Bregaglia Valley or continues as the Gruf Line to the southwest; the eastern end is buried by the Ötztal tectonic block and may continue as the "Inntal fault", "Isar fault" or "Loisach fault".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1946 Valais earthquake</span> Earthquake in Switzerland

The 1946 Valais earthquake struck on 25 January at 17:32 local time with an epicenter region in Sierre, near the capital city of Sion in Valais, a canton in Switzerland. The earthquake had an estimated moment magnitude (Mw ) of 6.2 and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oeschinensee and Kandertal landslides</span>

The area of Oeschinen Lake and Kander river valley in Switzerland have been subject of multiple large landslides during the Holocene. Both the number and timing of landslides is controversial, with the most recent estimates stating that the large Kander landslide occurred about 3,210 years ago and the smaller Oeschinen Lake landslide 2,300 years ago. Both may have been caused by earthquakes, and the latter landslide generated the Oeschinen Lake. More recent landslides have occurred, and unstable rock masses occur in the landslide area.

The 1584 Aigle earthquake occurred on 11 March at 23:00–23:30 local time in Switzerland. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 5.9–6.4 and maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The shock generated a tsunami in Lake Geneva. It was followed by 25 aftershocks in the following days. An aftershock on 14 March triggered a large rockslide that killed 320 people.

References

  1. Schwarz-Zanetti, G.; Deichmann, N.; Fäh, D. (2004). "The earthquake in Churwalden (CH) of September 3, 1295". Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae. 97 (2): 255–264. Bibcode:2004SwJG...97..255S. doi: 10.1007/s00015-004-1123-8 . S2CID   128830253.
  2. Fäh, Donat; Gisler, Monika; Jaggi, Bernard; Kästli, Philipp; Lutz, Thomas; Masciadri, Virgilio; Matt, Christoph; Mayer-Rosa, Dieter; Rippmann, Dorothee; Schwarz-Zanetti, Gabriela; Tauber, Jürg; Wenk, Thomas (2009). "The 1356 Basel earthquake: an interdisciplinary revision". Geophysical Journal International. 178 (1): 351–374. Bibcode:2009GeoJI.178..351F. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04130.x . hdl: 20.500.11850/21256 . S2CID   130044448.
  3. 1 2 Schwarz-Zanetti, Gabriela; Fäh, Donat; Gache, Sylvain; Kästli, Philipp; Loizeau, Jeanluc; Masciadri, Virgilio; Zenhäusern, Gregor (2018). "Two large earthquakes in western Switzerland in the sixteenth century: 1524 in Ardon (VS) and 1584 in Aigle (VD)". Journal of Seismology. 22 (2): 439–454. Bibcode:2018JSeis..22..439S. doi:10.1007/s10950-017-9715-8. hdl: 20.500.11850/228325 . S2CID   133623360.
  4. Schwarz-Zanetti, G.; Deichmann, N.; Fäh, D.; Giardini, D.; Jiménez, M.; Masciadri, V.; Schibler, R.; Schnellmann, M. (2003). "The earthquake in Unterwalden on September 18, 1601: A historico-critical macroseismic evaluation". Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae. 96 (3). doi:10.1007/s00015-003-1094-1 (inactive 2024-09-19).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2024 (link)
  5. Gisler, M.; Fäh, D.; Deichmann, N. (2004). "The Valais earthquake of December 9, 1755". Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae. 97 (3): 411–422. Bibcode:2004SwJG...97..411G. doi:10.1007/s00015-004-1130-9. S2CID   129222285.
  6. Kozák, J.; Vaněk, J. (2006). "The 1855 VISP (Switzerland) earthquake: Early attempts of earthquake intensity classification". Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica. 50 (1): 147–160. Bibcode:2006StGG...50..147K. doi:10.1007/s11200-006-0008-x. S2CID   129143307.
  7. "The earthquake in Switzerland in 1855" (PDF): 94.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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