November 29, 2016 Earthquake: Rudna, Poland

At least 8 people killed at the Rudna copper mine in Polkowice due to earthquake and collapse. Felt at Lubin. Lubin, Dolnoslaskie, Poland - CDI: 3 (reference #13456)

The final death toll of an earth tremor causing rockfalls deep underground in Europe's largest copper mine in southwestern Poland rose to eight miners, the mine's operator KGHM said on Wednesday. The tremor hit the Rudna copper mine at 2009 GMT (3.09 p.m. ET) on Tuesday, KGHM said, causing extensive damage, but the mine remained mostly open... The epicenter of the tremor was 1,500 meters below the surface, with a magnitude of 3.4, PAP reported. Sections of tunnels hundreds of meters below the surface were blocked by rocks, preventing access to the missing miners... State-run KGHM said the Rudna mine, in operation since 1974, had 11 shafts reaching a depth of 1,244 meters. "We are all shocked by the scale of this tragedy, which occurred in a place we had assessed as exposed to a moderate level of risk," KGHM Chief Executive Officer Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki told reporters earlier on Wednesday. Domagalski-Labedzki also said nine people working in the mine had suffered spinal and head injuries and five were in hospital. KGHM's spokeswoman said none were in a life-threatening condition. (reference #11742)