Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2008

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2008. During this period, 451 earthquakes and 75 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. The three strongest events occurred in the Valais, near Lac des Toules (M_L 3.6), and in Graubünden, near Ilanz (M_L 3.7) and Paspels (M_L 4.0). Although felt by the population, they were not reported to have caused any damage. However, with a total of only 15 events with M_L ≥ 2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2008 was far below the average over the previous 33 years.