Around 170 people have been relocated from the western French town of La Laigne after an earthquake struck on Friday evening, reports BBC News.
The quake, believed to have been between magnitude 5.2 and 5.8 was felt from Rennes in the north-west to Bordeaux in the south-west.
Homes, schools and churches were damaged, with hundreds of buildings declared uninhabitable.
Earthquakes above magnitude five are unusual in France, with the last affecting the country in November 2019.
Two people were injured in the Deux-Sèvres département following Friday's tremor.
The Charente-Maritime region just north of Bordeaux was particularly affected.
In La Laigne, the local fire service chief Didier Marcaillou warned the church had become "completely unusable" and a top government regional official said that most of the houses in the town centre were affected.