July 9 (Reuters) – A slight earthquake of 1.8 magnitude hit the Czech Republic on Thursday, much weaker than initial reports of a 5.5 reading, geophysics agencies and Czech news agency CTK reported.
German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) initially reported on its website an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 in the region of Plzen, a city 93 km (60 miles) southwest of Prague.
Seismic stations in the Czech Republic also recorded a weak earthquake but its strength and location would be determined later, CTK reported, citing Ales Spicak, the head of the country’s Institute of Geophysics.
The strongest earthquake in the Czech Republic was recorded in 1985 at a 4.6 magnitude.
That is a level that typically can be felt but causes minimal damage, while a magnitude 5.5 can cause damage to poorly constructed buildings.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet and Jan Lopatka in Prague and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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