140 Noticeable Earthquakes in Austria in 2024
However, the experts do not observe "a trend towards more earthquakes, the number of earthquakes in Austria varies greatly from year to year". The increase this year is mainly due to a series in the Waidring-Pillersee area in Tyrol.
There "were 50 felt earthquakes," the seismologist explained. 15 earthquakes reached a magnitude of 3.0 or higher in Austria in the outgoing year. This number of strong quakes is three times as high as the average of the past ten years.
In total, the Geosphere's earthquake service network registered around 9,300 seismic events worldwide in 2024. About 1,600 earthquakes were located in Austria, of which 133 could be felt by the population. In addition, seven earthquakes from neighbouring countries were perceived in Austria. All data refer to the status as of Monday, 30th December, 11.00 a.m.
Strongest Domestic Quake on 1st February at Semmering
The strongest earthquake of the year in Austria occurred on 1st February at Semmering in Lower Austria. With a magnitude of 4.6, slight damage was caused to many buildings in the epicentral area. "For example, there were cracks in the plaster and walls, fallen plaster parts and damage to chimneys," said Meurers, "some roof tiles also fell off, books fell from shelves and small objects fell over." There were also numerous reports of minor damage from the second strongest quake, which occurred on 23rd January in the Waidring-Pillersee area with a magnitude of 3.9.
The number of instrumentally registered earthquakes in Austria was around 1,600, above the average of the past years. The reason for this were several earthquake series as well as the densification of the seismological measuring network in Austria.
Most Quakes in Tyrol and Styria
Tyrol had a particularly high number of felt quakes, with 70. A large part of these came from an extraordinary series in the Waidring-Pillersee area. Styria is in second place with 20 felt earthquakes. According to Geosphere, this value is twice as high as the average of the past ten years, mainly due to series of quakes in Leibnitz, Unzmarkt and Leoben. This is followed by Lower Austria, where an average earthquake year was recorded with 16 felt quakes. In Carinthia, 13 noticeable earthquakes occurred, nine of them with the epicentre in the Zell-Pfarre area. In Vorarlberg, there were nine felt quakes, with the focus of seismic activity being in Wald am Arlberg. In Upper Austria, five earthquakes were perceived, four of them in the Steyrling area.
Seven earthquakes were felt in Austria from neighbouring countries. The epicentres were in the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and Switzerland.
Around 14,000 Perception Reports
About 13,950 perception reports reached the Austrian Earthquake Service via the online perception form and the "QuakeWatch Austria" app, which has been available since March 2021. The strongest quake from Semmering, with more than 3,500 reports, was the leader.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.