Earthquake in central Slovakia rattles nerves

The 3.2-magnitude earthquake that shook villages in the central Slovak Upper Hron area on Tuesday afternoon gave locals a true scare. The local inhabitants concurred that the temblor felt like a gas blast, as though a blast wave had been generated, and thundering was heard. "It was over very quickly", several locals concurred. Mayor of the village of Dolná Lehota (Banská Bystrica region) Vuera Húdiková said that people in the village of 735 people were very frightened by the quake, and gathered in the village's centre as a result. "We felt it quite intensely. It felt like a gas explosion. People at the edges of the village felt as though a blast wave had been generated. One house chimney collapsed, another chimney has been damaged. We'll assess damage to houses on Wednesday", said Húdiková. Mayor of the nearby village of Jasenie Miroslava Pravotiaková also cited village inhabitants as saying that the short quake had given them a real scare.