"Thought my house was falling down" - Earthquake strikes Lancashire overnight
An earthquake of 3.3 magnitude has shaken Lancashire overnight.
According to the British Geological Survey (BGS), the tremor struck shortly after 11.23pm on Wednesday, and was felt across Lancashire and the southern Lake District, including the towns of Kendal and Ulverston, within 12 miles of the epicentre. It’s thought the quake occurred just off the coast of Silverdale, 1.86 miles deep.
Residents told the BGS it “felt like an underground explosion” and was “so powerful it shook the whole house”.
The Volcano Discovery website, which also collects information on earthquakes, received more than 1,100 reports from people who were in the area at the time.
On social media, people in Lancaster, Heysham, Morecambe, Fleetwood, Poulton and Warton all reported strong temors.
On X, one person wrote: “Felt it here in Lancaster, I thought my house was falling down.” Another wrote: “Really weird, bedroom door started knocking and my daughter asked if something had hit the house.”
Lynn Snowdon wrote on the local Facebook page for Carnforth: “What the hell was that? House just shaken like a leaf?”
One resident in the village of Over Kellet, said: “It felt like my whole house moved side to side and everything inside just shook, and it was one big thud then the after-shakes seemed to last a bit longer than the first shake and slowly fizzled out. Very scary.”
A resident in the nearby village of Silverdale added: “Loud rumble and rattling of fixtures in house, as though something had collapsed or the chimney had fallen off. Significant enough to go outside to check.”
Emergency services
It has been reported that Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and Lancaster police had several reports of a “loud bang” in the Carnforth area.
Lancaster area police said: “There have been no reports of anyone injured or damage caused but we have officers in the area, together with colleagues from the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and the North West Ambulance Service.”
Earthquakes in the UK
Each year, the BGS detects between 200 and 300 earthquakes in the UK, but only around 20 to 30 are strong enough to be felt. Most go unnoticed, recorded only by sensitive instruments, and the vast majority cause little or no damage. The most recent earthquake measuring more than 3.3 magnitude was felt in parts of Perth and Kinross on October 20.