Shropshire earthquake: British county hit by 3.8-magnitude tremor

UK has been hit by three quakes in less than 24 hours

Seismic waves during a demonstration of a new earthquake early warning system in Israel. Reuters

The British county of Shropshire was hit by a 3.8-magnitude earthquake, the third to hit the country in less than 24 hours.

The earthquake hit just to the east of the town of Wem at a depth of seven kilometres at 2.36pm on Monday, the British Geological Survey said.

The epicentre was between the villages of Stanton upon Hine Heath, Weston-under-Redcastle and Hodnet.

The bureau said it received reports that people in the region felt the earthquake although damage is unlikely.

“We can confirm that a magnitude-3.8 earthquake was detected by our sensors at 2.47pm on May 30, 2022, approximately 16km north-east of Shrewsbury," the organisation said.

“We have received a number of reports that it was felt by people in the region.

“An earthquake of this size can result in strong shaking within about 10km of the epicentre but damage is unlikely.

“The earthquake may have been felt at distances as far as 100km away.”

People said “my chair wobbled”, “house felt like it moved from left to right”, “noticeable shaking coming through the floor”, “noticed an odd trembling through my office chair, faint but persisted for about three seconds” and “all the windows rattled,” the BGS website showed.

Ruth Reed, who works as an architect in Upton Magna, told PA: “Just after half past three, there was a jolt and the offices shook.

“We thought a lorry had hit the building and looked out both sides. People came out of the other offices to see what was happening.”

Ms Reed said that workers thought it might have been a sonic boom but people working from home miles away confirmed they had also felt it.

She said she “did wonder if the building was all right but it was fine”, adding that it shook for between three to five seconds.

It was the third earthquake with a magnitude of more than two to hit the UK in the past 24 hours.

A 2.1-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Arran, North Ayrshire, in Scotland just before 8am on Monday.

A quake with a magnitude of 2.3 struck in Sale, Greater Manchester, at 8.40pm on Sunday, the bureau said.

West Mercia Police and Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service told PA that they had not been called to any reports of incidents related to the quake.

The bureau said an area of the UK is struck by an earthquake of this size or greater “roughly every two years”.

The last earthquake of 3.8 magnitude was near Grimsby on June 9, 2018, the organisation said.

“Earthquakes like this one occur because of small movements on faults within the Earth’s crust,” it said.

In February, a 2.8-magnitude earthquake hit the West Midlands near the town of Walsall, near Birmingham, at a depth of seven kilometres.