UK earthquake MAP: Where in the UK did 3.1 earthquake hit TODAY?
A 3.1 magnitude earthquake rocked the south of England today, causing alarm among residents - but where exactly did the tremor hit?
Concerned residents described hearing “two huge explosions”, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).
Offices and homes were shaken while one person reported hearing a building “creak”.
(BGS) said today’s earthquake was the third one to hit the same spot in only nine days.
Where did the 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit?
The earthquake struck Newdigate, Surrey at 11.53am at a depth of 5km.
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The quaint parish village was the centre of four earthquakes in April, plus a 2.6 magnitude one last Wednesday and a 2.4 magnitude quake on Friday
One person told BGS said today’s earth-moving tremor “felt much bigger than the last two recent quakes”.
Was the earthquake felt anywhere else?
People felt the earth move in large swathes of the south east of England.
Reports were made in Dorking, Horley and Charlwood, Surrey, Crawley, Horsham and West Sussex.
Passengers at Gatwick Airport also said they felt the earth move.
Matt Temple wrote on Twitter: “Just felt an earthquake at Gatwick Airport - felt whole building move and a dull banging noise. (11:53am) #earthquake #sussex”
Another person Samantha Ferguson wrote: "My whole flat just shook underneath me!"
MP for Crawley, Henry Smith, tweeted: “Another tremor in the #Crawley area after several in recent weeks”.
Powerful earthquakes are rare in the UK but a 4.6 magnitude quake shook the earth in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, in February of this year.
Is fracking to blame?
Some people have suggested fracking may be linked to the surge in earthquakes in Surrey.
Fracking involves drilling deep below the earth before a high-pressure fluid including water and other agents such as sand is pushed down to extract gases.
Seismologist Stephen Hicks, responding directly to such claims, tweeted: “No evidence for these earthquakes being triggered by oil drilling activity in the area.
“But in my opinion, this needs further investigation.”
Prior to today's earthquake, BGS said: "We are unable to say categorically if these earthquakes are related to hydrocarbon exploration or production in the Weald, mainly because of the uncertainties in our estimates of the earthquake epicentres and depths. We use a process a bit like triangulation to locate earthquakes and our closest monitoring station was over 50 km away, so the errors in our location estimates are several kilometres."
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