An earthquake hit Baden-Württemberg on Saturday afternoon. The epicenter was Hechingen in the Zollernalp district. The earthquake was recorded as 4.1 on the Richter scale.
The Zollernalb district and the Tübingen region were hit by tremors on Saturday afternoon. According to the Situation Center of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior, the earthquake was in Hechingen (Zollernalbkreis). The earthquake could still be felt within a radius of fifty kilometers. No damage is known.
Authority: Moderate earthquake
The quake measured 4.1 on the 12-point Richter scale, according to the state Office of Geology, Natural Resources and Mines. The commission classified the earthquake as of moderate intensity.
Calls from concerned citizens
The Administration and Situation Center of the Reutlingen police headquarters received numerous calls in which citizens complained to the police about earth movement or asked about it. On social media, people reported that walls and houses shook. Earthquakes occur frequently in the Zollernalb district.
Hechinger says of a loud bang
A resident of Hechingen told SWR that there was a large explosion. “Something must have gone terribly wrong.”
“It was really swinging. I’m on the third floor. Then it was over immediately. A couple of seconds, but it was an intense adrenaline rush.”
Green dots show epicenters in the Albstadt shear zone
State Seismological Service
The last major earthquake was in 1978
The last major earthquake with major damage occurred in the Zollernalb district: a magnitude of 5.7 near Albstadt in 1978. Buildings were damaged. The region’s rare earthquakes always cause a stir because they are difficult to predict.
On October 7, 2021, SWR Aktuell reported on the causes of the earthquakes:
