France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) reported a magnitude 2.7 quake in France near Briancon, Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, only 24 minutes ago. The earthquake hit early morning on Thursday, March 5th, 2026, at 3:44 am local time at a very shallow depth of 5. km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.Our monitoring service identified a second report from France's Military Applications Division - Earth and Environmental Science (CEA) which listed the quake at magnitude 3.0. Other agencies reporting the same quake include Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) at magnitude 2.4, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 2.5.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Montgenevre (pop. 540) located 2 km from the epicenter.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Briancon (pop. 11,600) located 6 km from the epicenter, Saint-Chaffrey (pop. 1,700) 7 km away, Villar-Saint-Pancrace (pop. 1,500) 9 km away, Villeneuve (pop. 3,400) 11 km away, and Le Monetier-les-Bains (pop. 1,100) 16 km away. In Pinerolo (pop. 30,900, 50 km away), and Gap (pop. 42,700, 65 km away), the quake was probably not felt.Earthquake data: Date & time: Mar 5, 2026 03:44 am (GMT +1) local time (5 Mar 2026 02:44 GMT)Magnitude: 2.7Depth: 5.00 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 44.93°N / 6.7°E (Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France)Primary data source: RENASS