Mining sets off earthquake in west Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - A mild earthquake caused by coal mining shook the western German state of Saarland on Saturday, causing damage to buildings but no injuries.

A police spokesman in the Saarlouis region on the French border said the earthquake measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, the strongest on record in the area, and had knocked over chimneys and caused electricity outages.

After the quake, roughly 1,000 demonstrators gathered near the epicenter in Saarwellingen, police said, to demand an end to mining work which has sparked dozens of small tremors this year alone.

(Writing by Noah Barkin)