Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2012

Abstract

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2012. During this period, 497 earthquakes and 88 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. With a total of only 13 events with ML ≥ 2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2012 was far below the average over the previous 37 years. Most noteworthy were the earthquake sequence of Filisur (GR) in January with two events of ML 3.3 and 3.5, the ML 4.2 and ML 3.5 earthquakes at a depth of 32 km below Zug in February and the ML 3.6 event near Vallorcine in October. The epicentral intensity of the ML 4.2 event close to Zug was IV, with a maximum intensity of V reached in a few areas, probably due to site amplification effects.