Mystery of Brittany earthquakes

Brittany was shaken by two small earthquakes again over the weekend of January 7-8, after four in November and December last year – but experts are not sure why.

Quakes are quite common in the region and seismologists say they are not precursors of a big one. However, they are still trying to understand the reasons why they happen – theories include a deformation of the African plate pushing towards Europe or a link to ancient mountain range the Massifs Hercyniens which runs from Brittany to the Massif Central.

The latest quake’s epicentre was 10km below the surface in the centre of a triangle between the communes of Loudéac (Côtes d’Armor), and Pontivy and Josselin (both in Morbihan).