A Minor Earthquake Rattles North West England, Felt Across Lancashire and Lake District
Residents in Lancashire and parts of Cumbria reported a brief yet intense seismic event that struck late on Wednesday evening, registering 3.3 magnitude on the Richter scale. The quake's epicentre lay approximately 12 miles off the coast of Silverdale, with the tremors felt as far away as Kendal and Ulverston in the southern Lake District.
Eyewitnesses likened the earthquake to an "underground explosion", describing it as so powerful that it shook their homes from foundations. While data suggests the quake was at a relatively shallow depth of 1.86 miles, most reports to the British Geological Survey (BGS) indicated only minor shaking, with many likening the effects to "light" or "weak" tremors.
The UK sees an average of between 200 and 300 earthquakes annually, but only a fraction β approximately 20-30 β are strong enough to be felt by residents. Most go unrecorded, with little to no damage caused. Notably, this magnitude earthquake has not been reported in the region since October, when a similar quake was detected in Perth and Kinross, with its epicentre located near Pubil in Glen Lyon.
Residents in Lancashire and parts of Cumbria reported a brief yet intense seismic event that struck late on Wednesday evening, registering 3.3 magnitude on the Richter scale. The quake's epicentre lay approximately 12 miles off the coast of Silverdale, with the tremors felt as far away as Kendal and Ulverston in the southern Lake District.
Eyewitnesses likened the earthquake to an "underground explosion", describing it as so powerful that it shook their homes from foundations. While data suggests the quake was at a relatively shallow depth of 1.86 miles, most reports to the British Geological Survey (BGS) indicated only minor shaking, with many likening the effects to "light" or "weak" tremors.
The UK sees an average of between 200 and 300 earthquakes annually, but only a fraction β approximately 20-30 β are strong enough to be felt by residents. Most go unrecorded, with little to no damage caused. Notably, this magnitude earthquake has not been reported in the region since October, when a similar quake was detected in Perth and Kinross, with its epicentre located near Pubil in Glen Lyon.