"Torn from sleep"

Clearly noticeable earthquake caused beds to shake

A crack in the staircase of a terraced house in Ternitz

(Bild: „Krone“-Leserreporter)

Some Lower Austrians were suddenly torn from their sleep on Thursday night: There was a magnitude 4.4 earthquake southwest of Gloggnitz. The quake was felt strongly in the area of the epicenter. "That was violent", wrote a woman from Lower Austria on Facebook.

At around 3 a.m., the earth suddenly shook - so strongly that objects toppled over, beds shook and even cracks appeared in the walls of buildings. "We were torn from our sleep. It was violent today just before 3 a.m.," reports a krone.at user from Ternitz in the early hours of the morning: "There are now cracks on my stairs. The quake was really strong this time."

A crack in the staircase of a terraced house in Ternitz.

(Bild: „Krone“-Leserreporter)

There was a deep rumble and the whole house shook at the same time! We live in Ternitz and know the quakes! But this time it was violent, even my dog and my cat jumped out of bed out of fear!

Ein Niederösterreicher

The quake was not only felt in Lower Austria, but also in Styria and sometimes even in Vienna and Upper Austria.

Series of earthquakes in Tyrol
The statistics from Geosphere Austria show that earthquakes are not uncommon in Austria at the moment. According to these statistics, 39 quakes were felt in this country alone between January 1st and 26th. In contrast, only around five noticeable earthquakes are to be expected in an average month.

Most recently, there was a series of quakes in the Pillerseetal area in Tyrol. The strongest quake in this series was felt on January 23rd with a magnitude of 3.9.