About 170 people have been evacuated from the town of La Ligny, in western France, after an earthquake occurred on Friday night.
The earthquake, which is believed to have occurred between 5.2 and 5.8 on the magnitude, was felt by people from Rennes in the northwest to Bordeaux in the southwest. Homes, schools and churches were damaged and hundreds of buildings were declared uninhabitable, according to the BBC. Two people were injured in the town of Deux-Sevres, and the Charente-Maritime region, north of Bordeaux, was particularly affected.
In La Ligny, Didier Marcaillou, chief of the local fire brigade, warned that the church had become “completely unusable” and a senior regional government official said most homes in the city center were damaged. “The school should be closed as a precaution,” said Nicholas Basilere.
Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne described the quake as “extraordinary” and expressed solidarity with “those who may be concerned”. “Obviously we’re going to make sure that everyone has access to transportation,” Bourne said.
For his part, Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin said the government will initiate a rapid natural disaster identification procedure to help quickly assess structural damage to buildings.
Earthquakes greater than 5 magnitude are not uncommon in France. The most recent one was in November 2019
