Media enquiries

Whenever an earthquake occurs in Switzerland, the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) immediately informs the authorities, the general public and the media.

Please feel free to submit media queries by e-mail at any time of the day or night, sending them along with your contact details to medien@sed.ethz.ch. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Alternatively, contact Michèle Marti, our Head of Communication.

On request, journalists can receive e-mail announcements of any earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or above in Switzerland and on its neighbours. These announcements contain information on the place, time and strength of quakes and their potential impact.

These automatically generated earthquake announcements will generally be available within a few minutes. The SED seismologists on duty check the accuracy of each announcement after it has been sent out automatically and will, on rare occasions, make minor corrections. With any automatic system, unfortunately the possibility of false alarms cannot be ruled out altogether.

If interested in receiving these announcements, please send an e-mail to medien@sed.ethz.ch and we will include you on our distribution list.

On this page you will find an archive of all previous earthquake announcements sent out by the SED.

 

Follow us on Twitter and receive an immediate notification when an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.5 or greater has occurred in Switzerland or neighbouring countries.

@seismoCH_E

@seismoCH_D

@seismoCH_F

@seismoCH_I

On our website you can find automatically generated detailed information on current earthquakes in Switzerland and abroad within around 90 seconds of an earthquake, as well as a range of background information about all aspects of earthquakes.

Should any widely felt earthquakes or other major seismic events occur, we produce background reports containing more information as quickly as we can.

The MeteoSwiss-App and Federal Natural Hazards Portal automatically report all earthquakes with an intensity of III or above on the European Macroseismic Scale.

Background information

Earthquakes can neither be accurately predicted nor prevented. Nevertheless, a lot can be learned about them. The Swiss Seismological Service provides a variety of basic materials to learn more about this natural phenomenon.

Research results

Of the approximately 60 employees at the SED, about 40 are active researchers. Their scientific findings form the basis for various information products.

Event analyses

Event analyses are closely linked with information about current research results. In the wake of larger or especially significant earthquakes, scientists at the SED further evaluate the collected data and make the knowledge gained available.

Public events

In order to personally provide a wide audience with knowledge about earthquakes, the SED regularly participates in information and education events, works closely together with the focusTerra museum, or opens its own doors to the public.

Internal communication

All the employees of the SED contribute to the wide range of communication activities. To make sure that we are all talking about the same thing, we seek a lively internal exchange of information. In addition to countless e-mails, regular meetings, and a few events, our internal newsletter – which is published monthly – plays a large role in this regard.

Select the various icons and learn more about the different communication activities by the SED.