A 3.8-magnitude quake hits southern Wales, and alarmed residents report waking up in their beds to the sound of ‘houses shaking completely’ and what feels like an ‘explosion’.
The quake struck at midnight on Friday a few miles north of Ronda and was just over a mile deep, according to the British Geological Survey.
Even in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, many people quickly reported feeling the effects of the earthquake.
One Merthyr Tydfil wrote:
“The whole house was shaking,” another person in Hillwaun, just a few miles from the epicenter, made the same comment.
One Twitter user wrote: “There have been minor quakes in Wales before, but these tremors rocked my house in Ebbw Vale to the ground.
One resident of Hirwaun said: “Slight shaking of house, handles on furniture rattling.”
While in the town of Mountain Ash a person wrote: “Thought something had fallen upstairs, then my son came down to say his bed shook waking him.”
One report from Gilwern, 25 kilometres from the epicentre, described their house shaking and it feeling like an “explosion”.
Cllr Jamie Scriven in Merthyr Tydfil wrote on Facebook: “A lot of questions online about the recent disturbance.”
He added: “Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter.
“It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc. In Merthyr Tydfil (pop. 43,800) located 5 km from the epicenter, and Aberdare (pop. 31,100) 6 km away the quake should have been felt as light shaking.”
In Aberdare a man wrote: “Felt the whole house shake. Thought my wife had fallen out of bed. Took me a few minutes to realise what had happened.”
Then in Clyro, 38 kilometres from where the earthquake struck, a person said: “Felt a big tremble/shake that woke my family up. I woke up just before and felt it at midnight, fairly decent rumble.”
One of the furthest away of the testimonies on the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre website was a person in Wolverhampton, who wrote: “My bed shook!”
In Abertillery a resident said: “Was in bed and suddenly heard a rumble & felt vibrations. It made the floor lamp swing. Only lasted a few seconds.”
A magnitude of between 2.5 and 5.4 means an earthquake is often felt, but only causes minor damage.
While spared the more serious quakes seen elsewhere in the world, the UK is no stranger to seismological activity, with between 200 and 300 earthquakes located within our borders every year according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).
Last year parts of the UK were rattled by a 5.1 earthquake. People reported their homes were “rattling” for minutes as the tremors were felt in parts of northern Scotland on March 21, 2022.
