The church that gave the tower its name was dismantled in 1893, when it was deemed to be in acute danger of collapse. In typical Swiss style, the tower’s fate was put to a general vote of the adult population, and about 84 percent voted to save it.

Even before the earthquake, horizontal supports of reinforced concrete had been installed under the base of the tower to stabilize it. Then, in 1983, hydraulic lifts were used to straighten the tower slightly and pads were inserted underneath it to further ensure its safety. In 2005, the hydraulic lifting was repeated to correct the inclination, and another correction is planned.

“Whether this is the most inclined tower in Europe, with a 5.364 degree inclination angle, I do not know,” wrote Alexander Puzrin of the Technical University in an e-mail. “We are planning a new vertical adjustment campaign for 2013,” he added.

Towers lean for different reasons, Mr. Puzrin wrote, but the St. Mauritius tower tilts because it, and the entire neighborhood surrounding it, are essentially perched on a landslide that creeps inexorably down toward the shore of the lake on which St. Moritz lies.

Recently, three seismographs were installed, including one at the base and another at the top. When they begin registering later this year they will transmit data on the tower’s tilt directly to the experts in Zurich. Mr. Baracchi says he will continue his monthly visits.

The landslide, Mr. Puzrin said, which is about a mile long and half a mile wide, can move by as much as 18 inches a year.

Nadia Scartaccini, who moved here from Italy 26 years ago and now works in the Bata shoe store just below the tower, believes him. “We have to get out by the end of the year,” she said, then lifted a corner of carpet to reveal jagged cracks in the concrete floor.