Swiss Seismological Service (SED)

The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich is the federal agency for earthquakes. Its activities are integrated in the federal action plan for earthquake mitigation.

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Felt Earthquakes in Switzerland

Local Time
Mag.
Location
Felt?
2024-03-18 16:52 3.1 Val Bavona Felt
2024-03-15 06:19 2.6 Montreux VD Slightly felt
2024-02-27 02:21 3.4 Saignelegier JU Slightly felt
2024-02-25 11:32 3.0 2 km SW Torlino Vimercati (CR) Probably not felt
2024-02-20 14:46 3.8 Bologna I Probably not felt

Latest Earthquakes

Local Time
Magnitude
Location
2024-03-19 04:46 1.6 Muellheim D
2024-03-18 23:07 1.1 Martigny VS
2024-03-18 18:10 1.0 Zuoz GR
2024-03-18 17:27 1.3 Val Bavona

Swiss Earthquakes Counter

since 01.01.2024 
000

Recent earthquakes magnitude 4.5 or greater

Time (UTC)
Mag.
Region
2024-03-18 00:45:47 4.6 Iceland
2024-03-17 20:44:42 4.5 Eastern Mediterranean S
2024-03-14 03:06:48 5.3 Northwestern Balkan Region
2024-03-10 13:55:59 4.5 Turkey
2024-03-04 18:38:57 4.5 Turkey
2024-03-04 08:26:06 4.5 Turkey
2024-02-27 13:09:56 4.5 Turkey
2024-02-23 09:23:20 4.7 Adriatico Meridionale (MARE)
2024-02-23 05:35:13 5.1 North of Svalbard
2024-02-01 01:59:19 4.5 AUSTRIA
2024-01-27 05:19:20 5.0 Turkey
2024-01-25 13:04:06 5.0 Turkey
2024-01-24 11:19:26 4.5 Northwestern Caucasus
UTC Time
Magnitude
Location
2024-03-14 21:10:25 6.0 Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge
2024-03-13 15:13:24 6.0 New Britain, Papua New Guinea, region
2024-03-08 09:11:46 6.0 Mindanao, Philippine Islands
2024-03-03 16:16:57 6.7 Macquarie Island, Australia, region
2024-02-23 01:51:13 6.3 Southern East Pacific Rise
2024-02-14 11:40:21 6.0 Western Caroline Islands, Micronesia
2024-02-14 01:31:41 6.0 Near coast of central Chile
2024-02-12 11:19:37 6.1 Volcano Islands, Japan, region
NEWS

2024-03-18

[Available in DE/IT] Erdbeben im Val Bavona (TI)

Am Montag, den 18. März, hat sich am späten Nachmittag um 16:52 Uhr (Lokalzeit) ein Erdbeben der Magnitude 3.4 mit einer Tiefe von etwa 7 km im Val Bavona ereignet. Das Beben wurde in einem Umkreis von bis zu 50 km, in Leventina, Maggia- und Verzascatal, vereinzelt auch bis ins Wallis, leicht verspürt. Bei einem Beben dieser Magnitude sind im Allgemeinen keine Schäden zu erwarten.

Kleinere Beben sind in dieser Region keine Seltenheit, dieses Beben ist das bisher stärkste aufgezeichnete in der näheren Umgebung des Bavona-Tals, gefolgt von vier Beben mit Magnituden von 2.5 bis 2.8, die sich zwischen 2008 und 2020 ereignet haben.

2024-02-27

[Available in DE] Spürbares Erdbeben bei Porrentruy (JU)

In der Nacht von Montag auf Dienstag, den 27. Februar hat sich um 02:21 Uhr (Lokalzeit) unweit der französisch-schweizerischen Grenze zwischen Saignelégier und Porrentruy in der Haute-Ajoie im Kanton Jura ein Erdbeben der Magnitude 3.4 in einer Tiefe von etwa 5 km ereignet. Das Beben wurde in der näheren Umgebung deutlich verspürt, trotz der nächtlichen Stunde gingen etwa 20 Verspürtmeldungen beim Schweizerischen Erdbebendienst ein. An Orten nordöstlich des Bebens wurden die Erschütterungen zum Teil in grösserer Distanz verspürt. Bei einem Erdbeben dieser Stärke sind normalerweise keine Schäden zu erwarten.

In der Haute-Ajoie wurden seit Dezember 2021 vermehrt Beben gemessen. Das aktuelle Beben ist dabei schwächer als mehrere der vorangegangenen Beben vom Dezember 2021 (Magnitude 4.1), März 2023 (Magnitude 4.3) und Mai 2023 (Magnitude 3.8), die ebenfalls verspürt wurden.

2024-02-22

[Available in DE] Feuerwehren des Kantons Zürich vertiefen den Spezialfall Erdbeben

Nach einem grösseren Erdbeben wären es vielerorts die Feuerwehren, die als erste Hilfe leisten. Im Rahmen einer regulären Weiterbildung der Feuerwehren des Kantons Zürich, setzten sich diejenigen mit dem Spezialfall Erdbeben auseinander, welche die Einsätze leiten und Mitglieder der Feuerwehren ausbilden. Angeleitet durch Fachpersonen des Erdbebendienstes spielten sie mögliche Auswirkungen und Herausforderungen eines grossen Erdbebens durch. Ein Erdbeben der Magnitude 6 bei Winterthur diente dabei aus Ausgangslage. Das zu erwartende Schadensgebiets wäre weiträumig und würde insbesondere die Kantone Zürich, Thurgau, St. Gallen und Aargau betreffen. Die Erschütterungen des Bebens wären in der ganzen Schweiz zu spüren. Ein solches Ereignis würde die Feuerwehren nicht nur in ihrem Kerngebiet der Brandbekämpfung fordern, sondern auch in der Bergung von Personen. Die Schulung zielte darauf ab, das Bewusstsein für die Auswirkungen von Erdbeben zu schärfen und sich mit den vorhandenen Grundlagen vertraut zu machen, welche die Ereignisbewältigung unterstützen können.

[Available in DE] Feuerwehren des Kantons Zürich vertiefen den Spezialfall Erdbeben

2024-02-07

Earthquakes in Switzerland in 2023

The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich recorded around 1,500 earthquakes in Switzerland and neighbouring regions last year. This is the second highest number after 2019. Most of the quakes recorded in 2023  (Animation) were associated with earthquake sequences close to the Swiss border, near Singen (Germany), Sierentz (France) and Courmayeur (Italy). Last year's strongest earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.3, was also part of a sequence. This occurred in Haute-Ajoie near Réclère (canton of Jura). There were other locally felt earthquakes near Rossens (canton of Fribourg), Tiefencastel (canton of Grisons), Vaduz (Liechtenstein) and Mollis (canton of Glarus).

The past year was marked seismically by several earthquake sequences in which numerous localised earthquakes occurred over several days or even months. Such sequences accounted for the three strongest quakes of 2023. The most powerful was a 4.3-magnitude earthquake in Haute-Ajoie near Réclère (canton of Jura) on 22 March. This was also the strongest earthquake recorded in the region in the last 100 years. The tremors from the quake were clearly felt in the Jura and throughout the western Swiss Plateau. There were also isolated reports from Lausanne, Bern, Lucerne and Zurich. The second largest quake of 2023, with a magnitude of 3.8, also occurred as part of this sequence (on 29 May). Previously, this region was hit by a 4.1-magnitude earthquake at Christmas 2021, followed by several aftershocks.

The third largest earthquake last year took place outside Switzerland, near Sierentz in Alsace (France), and was felt widely as far as the Basel region and western Aargau. The earthquake had a magnitude of 3.6 and was related to the magnitude-4.7 quake that occurred there in September 2022. These quakes are located in the seismically active Upper Rhine Graben, which extends from the Vosges to the Black Forest. A sequence in the Hegau-Bodensee Graben (also known as the Hegau-Lake Constance Graben) near Singen (Germany) caused further smaller but still noticeable earthquakes in Switzerland. A total of ten quakes of magnitude 2.5 or above have occurred there since June 2023. The strongest earthquakes in this sequence so far took place on 27 June (magnitude 3.1), 29 June (magnitude 3.2) and 25 August (magnitude 3.4). All three were felt sporadically in Switzerland, particularly in the Schaffhausen region. 

Several earthquakes felt locally despite small magnitude

Most of the approximately 1,500 earthquakes recorded were too weak to be felt by the population. Twenty-eight had a magnitude of 2.5 or greater, the same number as in 2022 and slightly more than the long-term average. Above this magnitude, earthquakes are usually felt close to the epicentre, as was the case with the quakes in March near Tiefencastel (magnitude 2.6) and Rossens (magnitudes 2.7 and 3.0). 

Last year also saw a few earthquakes that could be clearly felt despite their smaller magnitude. This is usually due to a combination of shallow depth, local subsurface amplification effects and other topographic influences, as well as the timing of the earthquake. On the morning of 31 May, shortly before 6 a.m., over 50 people near Vaduz (Liechtenstein) felt slight tremors caused by a magnitude-1.8 earthquake. The quake on 14 December, which happened shortly after midnight near Mollis (canton of Glarus), was even smaller at magnitude 1.6. Because its hypocentre was very close to the surface, just a few hundred metres down, it was powerful enough to wake several people in Mollis and Näfels.

Earthquake impacts in Switzerland systematically determined for the first time

Although several thousand people notice earthquake tremors every year, major damaging earthquakes in Switzerland are becoming a distant memory. However, the earthquake risk model of Switzerland, published for the first time in 2023, shows that the impact of earthquakes on buildings and the associated financial and human losses can be very high. Urban areas in particular are at high risk from earthquakes due to their population density and number of buildings. The SED developed the earthquake risk model at the request of the Federal Council, together with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), EPFL and other partners from industry. It provides a valuable tool enabling the public, authorities and businesses to prepare for earthquakes and to better cope with the next damaging quake. 

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Watch animation "Earthquakes in Switzerland in 2023"

TOPICS

Earthquake

Help, the Earth Is Shaking!

Earthquakes are inevitable, but the damage they may be expected to cause can be mitigated in relatively simple ways. Find out the recommended behaviour before, during and after a powerful earthquake.

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Help, the Earth Is Shaking!

Knowledge

Earthquake Country Switzerland

Switzerland experiences between 1'000 and 1'500 earthquakes a year. Swiss citizens actually feel somewhere between 10 and 20 quakes a year, usually those with a magnitude of 2.5 or above. Based on the long-term average, 23 quakes with a magnitude of 2.5 or above occur every year. Find out more about the natural hazards with the greatest damage-causing potential in Switzerland.

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Earthquake Country Switzerland

Alerting

Always Informed

If you want to be kept informed at all times, here you will find an overview of the various information services provided by the Swiss Seismological Service (SED).

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Always Informed

Knowledge

Earthquake Hazard

In Switzerland, earthquakes are the natural hazard with the greatest potential for causing damage. They cannot currently be prevented or reliably predicted. But, thanks to extensive research, much is now known about how often and how intensely the earth could shake at a given location in the future. Consult a variety of different maps using our interactive web tool to find out how likely certain earthquakes are in Switzerland.

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Earthquake Hazard

Research & Teaching

Fields of Research

We are often asked what staff at the SED do when no earthquakes are occurring. The answer is they conduct research in a variety of fields, constituting SED's main scientific activities described in our research field section.

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Fields of Research

About Us

Swiss Seismological Service (SED)

The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich is the federal agency responsible for monitoring earthquakes in Switzerland and its neighboring countries and for assessing Switzerland’s seismic hazard. When an earthquake happens, the SED informs the public, authorities, and the media about the earthquake’s location, magnitude, and possible consequences. The activities of the SED are integrated in the federal action plan for earthquake mitigation.

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Swiss Seismological Service (SED)

Earthquakes

Earthquake Monitoring

Around 10 to 20 times a year you will hear or read about an earthquake occurring in Switzerland. However, the vast majority of quakes recorded by the SED go unnoticed by the general public because they fall below the threshold of human perception and can only be detected by sensitive measuring devices. The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) operates a network of more than 200 seismic stations across Switzerland.

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Earthquake Monitoring

Research and Teaching

Products and Software

Go to our Products page for access to seismic data and various apps.

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Products and Software