France earthquake evacuation

All the 500 inhabitants of La Laigne (Charente-Maritime) were evacuated as a precaution after a violent earthquake of magnitude 5.3 to 5.8 occurred on Friday between La Rochelle and Niort.

The most of the evacuees found refuge with relatives, a dozen people spent the night in the gymnasium of Courçon, a neighboring town. There were no injuries in this town hard hit by the earthquake. On the other hand, many houses and buildings are in danger of collapsing.