5.8-magnitude quake hits France

Paris, June 17 An 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit western France on Friday evening, the French Central Seismological Bureau (FCSB) announced.

The epicenter was determined to be 28 km to the southwest of the city of Niort, in the Deux-Sevres department of western France, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the FCSB.

Calling the earthquake "one of the strongest earthquakes recorded in metropolitan France", French Minister for the Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, Christophe Bechu, said that the evaluation of the damage is being conducted.

"So far, one minor injury has been taken care of by the emergency services," he said on social media.

In the neighboring Charente-Maritime prefecture, numerous material damages such as cracks have been reported on buildings, but no casualty has been reported.

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