A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck the Semmering area on the border of Lower Austria and Styria early on Friday, triggering a rockfall that blocked a road between Schottwien and Breitenstein.
The tremor hit at 1:59 a.m. local time at a depth of four kilometres, centred roughly eight kilometres southwest of Gloggnitz and 15 kilometres east of Mürzzuschlag. Firefighters cleared boulders from the affected roadway. Geosphere Austria said quakes of this strength could cause isolated minor damage near the epicentre, and the agency received numerous reports from eastern Lower Austria and Styria. Tremors were also felt faintly in parts of Vienna.
Seismologist Anton Vogelmann noted that the southern Vienna Basin remains among Austria's most seismically active zones.