Earthquake hits south west England

TREMORS FROM an earthquake centred on Cwmllynfell, just to the north east of Swansea in Wales, have been felt throughout the west of England – and even up to the edges of London.

The quake came at 2.31pm and measured 4.4 on the Richter scale – a baby in global terms, but the largest quake to hit the UK in a decade, almost to the day. It was 27th February when a quake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Leicestershire in the early hours of the morning – sending out tremors which were felt in East London.

The quake prompted thousands of people in south of Wales to phone the police to try to find out why their buildings were shaking. Police quickly sent out tweets trying to reassure those in the area – but not before many public buildings had been evacuated.

Strong tremors were felt in Bristol, where a small number of buildings suffered minor damage, and Cornwall. Buildings were felt moving in Liverpool and across Merseyside. Jovial types resorted to Twitter to share reports of “devastation” – ranging from pot plants falling off tables through to garden chairs falling over.

The UK is often regarded as an earthquake-free zone, but this is because the quakes are usually too mild for people to notice rather than because they do not happen at all. On average there are two earthquakes measuring less than 2 on the Richter scale each week; three a year up to 5 on the Richter scale; and, on average, a bigger earthquake every eight years.

Scientists reported that although this earthquake did not have a large magnitude, it was very shallow – which may have meant that the tremors would have travelled further out from the epicentre that would have been experienced in a deeper earthquake, which is more usual in the UK.

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