Moderate earthquake jolts eastern France

An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale rocked eastern France near Lyon yesterday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, officials said.

The tremor's epicentre was near Besancon, close to the border with Switzerland, the IGG geophysics institute in Strasbourg said.

The electricity supply and telephone lines were briefly cut in some areas near Besancon, an official at the Besancon police office said.

A Reuters journalist in Lyon said the quake lasted several seconds and made "a dull sound and made the walls of buildings shake".

The quake was the strongest in France since a tremor last February, also in the east of the country, registered 5.4 on the Richter scale. In May last year, two other quakes in France registered 3.4 and 3.3 respectively on the Richter scale.