As of: January 22, 2024, 12:39 a.m
By: Johannes Welte
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There were two tremors in Tyrol again on Saturday and Sunday.
There were now 42 tremors in January.
An expert explains why the Alps shake so often - and how dangerous it can be.
Update from January 20th, 7:25 p.m.:
There were two more earthquakes in the Waidring region over the weekend.
On Saturday the earth trembled at 2:35 p.m., the shocks reached a magnitude of 3.0.
On Sunday there was another earthquake with a magnitude of 1.9 at 3:49 a.m.
The intensity seems to be easing again, at least for the time being.
All quakes occurred at depths of between four and ten kilometers.
Update from January 19th, 9:25 p.m.:
The ground under Waidring is not calming down.
At 8:28 p.m. the measuring devices showed a new earthquake, this time with a magnitude of 3.5, the strongest shock so far in the current series of quakes.
This began on January 9th, and since then a total of 40 shocks have been registered.
And they are increasing in strength.
“Some of the population really noticed it.
In a few cases, very slight damage to buildings in the area of the epicenter is possible,” writes
GeoSphere Austria
on Facebook about the latest quake.
“Why so many earthquakes in such a short time?” asks one user.
A woman replies: “And practically all of them in the same place.” “Yes, that is very disturbing,” said the first user.
First report from January 19th, 6:18 p.m.:
Waidring - The earth shook again in Austria at the border triangle of Tyrol, Salzburg and Bavaria: On the night of Friday (January 19th), an earthquake even reached a magnitude of 3.4 on the Richter scale .
It was felt as far as Lake Chiemsee in Bavaria.
According to ORF, some people described the tremors as “thundering or rumbling” from the underground.
No damage was reported.
On Friday morning there were two more earthquakes measuring 2.5 and 2.1 on the Richter scale.
In Waidring near Kitzbühel the earth shook four times in two days.
© Volker Preusser via www.imago-images.de
The night before there had been two earthquakes near Waidring (Tyrol) with a magnitude of 2.2 and 3.3.
Dr.
Joachim Wassermann, head of the seismology department at the Bavarian Geophysical Observatory in Fürstenfeldbruck, explains to
IPPEN.MEDIA
why the series of quakes in the Alps does not surprise him: “This is typical for the region around the Inntal and Salzach.
There are faults in the earth’s crust that were created there millions of years ago.”
Earthquake in Austria: “It’s like a huge traffic accident”
The background is the plate tectonics that caused the folding of the Alps.
Dr.
Wassermann: “You have to imagine it like a huge traffic accident: There are several smaller plates between the large continental plates of Europe and Africa, one of which is the Adriatic plate, which is pushed under the European plate on the southern edge of the Alps.”
Further: “You have to imagine it as if several small cars were jammed between two semi-trailers, the small cars are placed all over the place and are crushed.” The forces not only cause the Alps to rise, but also the mountain ranges of the Apennines Italy and the Balkan Peninsula.
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“The Adriatic plate pushes north a few millimeters a year,” the expert explains.
This happens on the southern edge of the Alps at a depth of around 15 kilometers.
“This ensures that the Alps continue to be pushed together,” said the expert.
Although the uplift on the surface is swallowed up by erosion, the rock packages continue to move underground.
Earthquakes occur again and again in the south of the Alps
“That’s why serious earthquakes occur again and again, especially in the south of the Alps,” said the expert.
On May 6, 1976, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 caused a catastrophe in Friuli in northern Italy, close to Slovenia and Austria: 989 people died and 45,000 were left homeless.
It was the worst earthquake in the Alps since 1348. It was already on October 9, 1963 as a result of an earthquake in the same area
A landslide occurred in the region, which slid into the reservoir of the Vajont dam.
There was a gigantic tidal wave that claimed at least 1917 lives, especially in the village of Longarone.
According to Dr.
Aquarius is very unlikely because the subduction zone where the Adriatic plate goes under the European plate is too far away.
The aftermath of the Ice Age is also causing the earth to shake - things can get that bad
A second factor is the aftermath of the Ice Age.
Dr.
Wassermann: “Back then there were glaciers up to two kilometers thick on the Alps.” The ice masses actually compressed the ground.
“After melting, the region was relieved of weight and rose again, which is still ongoing.”
How severe can the earthquakes in the northern Alps be?
“You can’t rule out a magnitude of five,” said the expert.
To explain: From 3.5 onwards the first damage occurs, plaster falls off the wall, from 4.5 onwards there can be cracks in the walls.
From 5 onwards, damage to the building structure is possible.
Dr.
Wassermann: “The tops of chimneys can sometimes fall down.” The worst earthquake in the northern Alps was measured on October 7, 1930 near Namlos in the Reutte district (Tyrol).
It measured 5.3 on the Richter scale.
Of the 47 chimneys on site, 31 collapsed.
The church and some houses also suffered major damage.