Huge earthquake with 4.4 magnitude off coast of Shetland felt by people more than 130 miles away
The large tremor was recorded in the North Sea and was reported to be felt in Lerwick, Kirkwall on Orkney and in Wick and Thurso in Caithness
AN EARTHQUAKE which struck off the coast of Shetland has been felt by people more than 130 miles away.
The huge 4.4 magnitude tremor was recorded in the northern North Sea, according to the British Geological Survey.
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It is one of the largest recorded by the BGS in several years.
The epicentre was around 131 miles south east of Lerwick and happened at 1.33pm on Friday.
The quake was at a depth of 5km and was reported to be felt in Lerwick, Kirkwall on Orkney and in Wick and Thurso in Caithness.
It is not known at this stage if it was also felt by oil rigs in the North Sea, but appears likely.
There have been a number of tremors over Scotland in the last few months as the Earth’s crust moves under pressure.
In April another earthquake struck in the sea off Shetland.
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A 1.7 magnitude tremor was then recorded 124 miles south east of Lerwick.
The largest known Scottish earthquake occurred near Loch Awe in 1880, with a magnitude of 5.2.
There are roughly 200-300 quakes in Britain every year, but the vast majority are so small that no one notices them.
However between 20-30 are over 2.0 magnitude which can be felt over a wider area.
The most damaging UK earthquake was in the Colchester area in 1884.
Some 1,200 buildings needed repairs, chimneys collapsed and walls were cracked.
Earthquakes in Scotland are most often attributed to glacial rebound. Until about 10, 500 years ago much of the north of the UK was covered by a thick layer of ice – which pushed the rocks down into the underlying mantle.
These rocks have been slowly rising back up ever since the ice melted, causing occasional earthquakes in the process.
The UK is also subject to tectonic stresses caused by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean, which is slowly pushing the entire of Eurasia to the east, and from the northward motion of Africa, which is pushing into Europe from the south.
A 6.1 magnitude quake hit the North Sea in 1931 and another in the area measuring 5.1 was recorded in 1958.
The 1931 tremor on the Dogger Bank was the strongest earthquake recorded in the United Kingdom since measurements began.
The tremor began at around 1.30 am on June 7 with its epicentre 60 miles off the Yorkshire coast.
The effects were felt throughout the UK as well as in Belgium and France.
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