A 2.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded near Grimsby on Tuesday evening, with residents across parts of north-east Lincolnshire reporting a brief tremor. The British Geological Survey (BGS) confirmed the quake occurred shortly before 7.50pm at a depth of 5km.
Residents report shaking and rumbling
Reports came from Grimsby, neighbouring Cleethorpes and nearby areas. People shared accounts of the tremor on social media, describing shaking and rumbling sensations in their homes.
One resident told Manchester Evening News: "I felt what felt like a really quick shake in my house, I thought something heavy had fallen down upstairs or in the loft." Another commented: "Felt a bang like the house being hit".
Social media reactions
One person wrote on Facebook: "Felt the house shake and rumble". A further resident added: "I heard a deep rumble, I thought it was thunder."
British Geological Survey data estimates that more than 300 earthquakes were recorded in the UK last year. The two largest took place just hours apart near Loch Lyon in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, when a 3.7 magnitude tremor was registered on October 20, followed by one of 3.6.
UK earthquake frequency
Despite occurring so often, only about 20 to 30 earthquakes are felt or heard by UK residents, according to the British Geological Survey. With this recent quake scoring 2.2 on the Richter scale, a magnitude-four event in the UK is rare, occurring every three or four years. A magnitude-five event strikes every few decades while a magnitude-six earthquake is likely to take place every few hundred years.
The largest known earthquake in the UK occurred in 1931, near the Dogger Bank, in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire.
