Sheffield feels earthquake that caused tremors across the North

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.9 has been felt in the North of England with reports of tremors in Sheffield.
An official graph showing the tremor. Picture: BGSAn official graph showing the tremor. Picture: BGS
An official graph showing the tremor. Picture: BGS

The British Geological Survey said it happened at just before 11.15pm on Saturday with the epicentre in Grimsby at a depth of 11 miles.

It was felt mainly in Lincolnshire and Hull, the BGS said - but it appears the earth shook as far away as Sheffield.

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George Griffiths wrote on Twitter: "I felt it in Sheffield, it kept stopping and starting so I'm not sure if it was multiple earthquakes in quick succession, or just one we couldn't feel the weaker parts of due to the distance."

The BGS said people told of how 'the whole house shook for a couple of seconds', they 'heard a rumble with a simultaneous trembling', 'the bed started to shake' and 'the radiator jolted', while someone 'thought it was a lorry crashing outside'.

Such earthquakes are not uncommon in the UK, happening every two years on average.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, an independent monitoring group, said it had reports from people more than 60 miles from the epicentre who had experienced the tremor.

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Ten years ago a 5.2-magnitude earthquake in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire was felt widely across England and Wales. And earlier this year, on February 17, a quake occurred in Cwmllynfell in South Wales that registered a magnitude of 4.6.