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By ELIZABETH HAIGH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
An earthquake struck Britain in the early hours of this morning as locals reported hearing a ‘thunder’-like noise and household items shaking.
The 2.5-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Silverdale, Lancashire at 5.03am.
The tremors originated 2.6km below the earth’s surface and was felt by residents in Morecambe Bay.
According to the British Geological Society (BGS), locals reported feeling a ‘sharp shaking jolt’ and heard a ‘thunder noise’.
Others said that the radiators and pictures in their homes ‘rattled’ with the force.
The quake was reportedly felt as far away as Blackpool and Flookburgh, with Lancaster and Grange-over-Sands also affected.
Some locals reported being woken up by the noise, which they likened to an explosion, while others said it sounded as if a tree had fallen on their home.
It comes just two weeks after a larger earthquake was felt in the same region on December 4.
According to the British Geological Society (BGS), locals reported feeling a ‘sharp shaking jolt’ and heard a ‘thunder noise’
Residents in Silverdale and other nearby towns reported shaking home furnishings and a thunder-like noise
That event, which measured at magnitude 3.3 on the Richter scale, struck at 11.23pm.
Residents across the South Lakes and Lancashire were affected, as well as towns Kendal and Ulverston, in Cumbria.
Locals said that quake ‘felt like an explosion’ or a passing ‘freight train’ with some saying their entire homes seemed to shake.
Earthquakes are measured using the Richter scale, which generally records seismic movements between one and ten.
Most modern quakes measure between three and seven, with those at six or higher generally considered life-threatening.
The largest ever earthquake recorded was the Great Chilean quake of 1960, which came in at 9.5.
It was said to have killed 1,655 people and displaced a further two million.
The biggest UK quake on record occurred 60 miles off the coast of Yorkshire in 1931, and measured 6.1 on the Richter scale.
A woman in Hull reportedly died of a heart attack as a result, while a non-destructive tsunami wave was said to have hit the east coast.
More recently, a 5.2 magnitude quake hit around 2.5 miles north of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, in 2008.
People across England reported feeling the 10-second tremor shortly before 1am on February 27.
The BGS detects between 200 and 300 earthquakes in the UK every year, but it is thought only 20 to 30 are strong enough to be felt.
EARTHQUAKES ARE CAUSED WHEN TWO TECTONIC PLATES SLIDE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS
Catastrophic earthquakes are caused when two tectonic plates that are sliding in opposite directions stick and then slip suddenly.
Tectonic plates are composed of Earth’s crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle.
Below is the asthenosphere: the warm, viscous conveyor belt of rock on which tectonic plates ride.
They do not all not move in the same direction and often clash. This builds up a huge amount of pressure between the two plates.
Eventually, this pressure causes one plate to jolt either under or over the other.
This releases a huge amount of energy, creating tremors and destruction to any property or infrastructure nearby.
Severe earthquakes normally occur over fault lines where tectonic plates meet, but minor tremors – which still register on the Richter sale – can happen in the middle of these plates.
The Earth has fifteen tectonic plates (pictured) that together have molded the shape of the landscape we see around us today
These are called intraplate earthquakes.
These remain widely misunderstood but are believed to occur along minor faults on the plate itself or when ancient faults or rifts far below the surface reactivate.
These areas are relatively weak compared to the surrounding plate, and can easily slip and cause an earthquake.
Earthquakes are detected by tracking the size, or magnitude, and intensity of the shock waves they produce, known as seismic waves.
The magnitude of an earthquake differs from its intensity.
The magnitude of an earthquake refers to the measurement of energy released where the earthquake originated.
Earthquakes originate below the surface of the earth in a region called the hypocenter.
During an earthquake, one part of a seismograph remains stationary and one part moves with the earth’s surface.
The earthquake is then measured by the difference in the positions of the still and moving parts of the seismograph.
