Brisbane's Story Bridge and City Hall have been lit in the colours of the French Tricoloure on Friday night in solidarity with the people of Nice but Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said such gestures were sadly becoming too commonplace.

The French Riviera city was reeling following an apparent Bastille Day terrorist attack that saw a truck plough through a crowd of revellers following a fireworks display.

The death toll, which had already reached as many as 80, was expected to rise through the day.

In the past 12 months, the Story Bridge has been lit in the colours of France following the November Paris attack, Belgium in the wake of the attack on Brussels and, more recently, the colours of the rainbow flag following the Orlando massacre at a gay nightclub.

Cr Quirk said he hoped such symbolic gestures would become less frequent.

"We've had to do far too much of it," he said.

"We live in very uncertain times in the world today and I don't know what possesses these thought patterns on individuals that they simply want to destroy life.

"It's not what our world should be about and let's hope we see some common sense happening into the future."

As the mayor of a western city of a similar size to the urban area of Nice, Cr Quirk said the low-tech nature of the deadly attack in France served as a wake-up call.

"These things can happen at any time, at any place, that is the reality," he said.

"We live in absolutely uncertain times and no amount of security or intelligence can deal with these types of incidents.

"If somebody just decides, on their own bat, that they're going to run a truck through a crowd of people, these things can occur at any time."

Cr Quirk said the hearts of Brisbane residents would go out to Nice.

A condolence book would be made available at City Hall, the Lord Mayor said.