Earthquake hits western Brittany

The earth moved a little bit for residents in Brittany when an earthquake struck halfway between Quimper and Vannes.

The tremor, rated at 3.2 on the Richter scale, happened 3km south-west of Quimperlé, Finistère, and 20km north-west of Lorient, Morbihan, at 15.18 yesterday and was picked up by the military detectors of the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique.

It was reported by several residents in Quimperlé and Concarneau on social media – with one asking if it was an earthquake or a sonic boom from an aircraft. Some reported it as a shaking and others as a grinding feeling.

Les murs ont tremblé il y a 5mn. séisme ? Franchissement du mur du son ? #Concarneau

— Eric LEVRARD (@klmpencran) May 8, 2017

Brittany has been hit by several small quakes over the past few months, with the largest one being a tremor of magnitude 3.9 near Brest in December.

The sensitive defence monitors at the CEA – intended to pick up nuclear testing – have picked up several small quakes since the weekend, with the largest being a 3.8 tremor at 4.08 yesterday morning just 1km from Lourdes in Hautes-Pyrénées.

There was also a 2.6 tremor 9km from Ogeu-les-Bains, Pyrenees-Atlantique, this morning and others on Sunday of 2.3 at Castillon-En-Couserans (Ariege) at 22.44 and of 2.7 at Lugrin (Haute-Savoie) at 17.58. Murat in Cantal and L'Ile-Bouchard (Indre-et-Loire) were also shaken up on Friday.

You can check the earthquake monitors at CEA or the Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique and report any activity you feel.