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.
https://twitter.com/BritGeoSurvey/status/1495926619608911884
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."
https://twitter.com/BritGeoSurvey/status/1495927216038895617
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.”
https://twitter.com/Adamhayes_85/status/1495903751407812609
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.
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