The earthquake could be felt over a 20km radius
A 2.8 magnitude earthquake hit the West Midlands on Monday night, with residents across the Birmingham area reporting their homes “shaking” and comparing the quake to an “explosion.”
The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the quake hit Walsall at a depth of 4.35 miles (7km) at 22:59. It added that the effects could be felt over a 12-mile (20km) radius from the epicentre.
There were reports of tremors in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley.
BGS SEISMIC INFORMATION: WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS 22:59 UTC 2.8 ML
DATE: 21 February 2022
ORIGIN TIME: 22:59 29.7s UTC
LAT/LON: 52.549° North / 1.972° West
GRID REF: 401.90 kmE / 294.61 kmN
DEPTH: 7 km
MAGNITUDE: 2.8 ML
INTENSITY: 3 EMS
LOCALITY: Walsall, West Midlands pic.twitter.com/IRoxIcJFNX— British Geological Survey (@BritGeoSurvey) February 22, 2022
One local told the BGS that they “heard a faint rumbling before a sensation of being hit in the back of the chair.”
Another said it was “like a wardrobe had fallen over or an explosion blast against the window.”
A third said it was like a “large object was rolling past”, with a fourth saying they “felt the house shake.”
"my first thought was something had fallen off the bed", "was like a wardrobe had fallen over or an explosion blast against the window", "heard a rumbling sound and vibration like a large object was rolling past" and "felt the house shake".
— British Geological Survey (@BritGeoSurvey) February 22, 2022
Some took to social media to voice their shock at the quake.
One person wrote: “Pandemics, putin and earthquakes how can i live love laugh in this world??”
https://twitter.com/kiranawayy/status/1495904240237174786
Another said: “Birmingham actually just told Storm Franklin to hold its beer.”
A third said: “It has been a crazy week with this as well as 3 storms – very strong winds on Friday and rain like I have never seen before yesterday.”
Earthquake in the West Midlands. Felt in #Walsall #Birmingam #Dudley and #wolverhampton It has been a crazy week with this as well as 3 storms – very strong winds on Friday and rain like I have never seen before yesterday
— Adam Hayes (@Adamhayes_85) February 21, 2022
Monday’s quake was just eight miles east of the 4.7 magnitude tremor one that hit Dudley in 2002, which ended up being felt by most of England.
But this pales in comparison to the strongest earthquake the country has ever experienced.
That title belongs to the 1931 quake near Dogger Bank, which measured a powerful 6.1 on the Richter Scale.
Despite its epicentre being 60 miles offshore it still managed to cause damage to buildings on the east coast of England.
It’s rare for the UK to experience earthquakes as the country does not sit on a tectonic plate boundary, where earthquakes usually happen.
This is why countries such as Japan are far more earthquake-prone.
Related links:
- Steward goes onto pitch in the middle of Birmingham-Luton game
- Shocking moment people get thrown into traffic by strong winds during Storm Eunice
- Storm Eunice sends church spire toppling in Somerset
