He chatted all weekend. Did you feel it? And what did it do to you? Does your house have cracks? In western France, the earthquake that occurred shortly after 6.30 p.m. on Friday was on everyone’s mind. Recorded at a magnitude between 5.3 and 5.8, the earthquake caused some damage around the epicenter located not far from Niort. In several villages, including that of Laigne (Deux-Sèvres), major cracks appeared in residential houses. A church in Saint-Hilaire-la-Palud also suffered, causing the establishment of a security perimeter. In Cram-Chaban (Charente-Maritime), epicenter of the earthquake, graves were damaged by rock falls from the church overlooking the cemetery. Two aftershocks of magnitude 5 and 3.7 were recorded overnight from Friday to Saturday.
Described as “very strong”, this earthquake is one of the most powerful recorded in France. The record appears to have been set in 1909 in the southeast with a 6.2 quake that left 46 dead and 250 injured. This weekend, French nuclear specialists carefully scrutinized the alarm systems of the power plants located in the sector.
According to the Nuclear Safety Authority, the first shock and its two aftershocks would not have caused any major alert. ASN recognizes that “the earthquake was felt in the administrative buildings of the Civaux, Blayais and Chinon power stations”. Before specifying: “it did not lead to the triggering of the alarms linked to the shaking of the reactor buildings. »
The nearest power station is 100 km away
According to the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the site closest to the epicenter of the earthquake is the Pouzauges irradiator (Vendée), which is located about 60 km away. The Civaux nuclear power plant is 100 km away, that of Blayais is 115 km away and the Chinon site is located 130 km from the epicentre.