Leighton Buzzard earthquake: Bedfordshire residents struck by tremor for second time in a week

The tremor was felt in Leighton Buzzard
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Harriet Brewis @HattieBrewis14 September 2020

Residents in Bedfordshire have been hit by a earthquake for the second time in a week.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said it had received reports from people in Leighton Buzzard who felt the tremor on Sunday night.

A magnitude 3.5 quake was also felt in the area on September 8.

The BGS said the latest tremor was registered at 11.20pm and was magnitude 2.1.

It tweeted: “There have been a small number of reports received from members of the public indicating they felt this earthquake, which is in the same area as the 8 September 3.5 quake.

"One report describes ‘It felt slower and less intense than the previous tremor’.”

Members of the public report "dramatic" shaking during the previous quake, whose impact the BGS likened to a "large explosion".

Usha Chapman, from Luton, said: “I was on a video call with my mum when I felt a sideways push. The door rattled and the TV fixed to the wall also rattled.

“It lasted for five seconds.”

Head of seismology at BGS Dr Brian Baptie told the BBC that the UK only gets around one earthquake each year of such a size, but rarely in the Bedfordshire area.

He said: “Leighton Buzzard is not an area that has been known for earthquakes in the past.

“There have been a few historically nearby. There was a magnitude 3 near Oxford in 1986 and then you have to go back to the 18th century to look at Oxford in 1764 for another event of that size.

“Most of the earthquake areas in the UK are a little bit further north, or west, or down in the Dover Strait area.”

Bedfordshire Police said no injuries had been reported.

The force said in a tweet: “Our control room are currently experiencing a large number of calls due to an earthquake which was felt across the county. We have currently received no reports of any injuries or major structural damage.”

One person in Aylesbury wrote online that their house shook “as if it was hit by a vehicle”.

Another, from Dacorum in Hertfordshire, said: “Short quick quiet boom like an explosion.”

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