Earthquake felt across Shropshire on Monday afternoon
People across Shropshire felt the force of nature on Monday afternoon, 30 May 2022, after an earthquake was felt across the county and beyond.
The earthquake happened at 3.36 pm, with many people reporting a rumbling sound and vibrations on our social media.
The British Geological Survey reported a 3.8 magnitude earthquake with an epicentre between Wem and Hodnet at a depth of 8km, around 5 miles.
It said it had received numerous reports that residents in Shropshire and surrounding counties had felt this event.
This is the largest onshore seismic event since a magnitude 3.8 earthquake near Grimsby, Lincolnshire on 9 June 2018.
The location was around 28 miles northwest of the magnitude 4.7 ML earthquake in Dudley, West Midlands in 2002 and 31 miles northeast of the magnitude 5.1 ML Bishop's Castle, earthquake in 1990.
People describe their experience
Shropshire Live's social media channels were filled with comments from local people who felt the ground momentarily shake and from those who didn't feel a thing.
Daz Davies on twitter said he heard a weird rumbling sound as the house shook which freaked out the cat! Glyn Williams also on twitter described shaking floorboards, like something heavy had just fallen over in another room stating "Seemed to last a couple of seconds."
Meanwhile, on our Facebook page, Melanie Brider-Birch described it as "shocking and awesome." Kayles Dulson from Monkmoor said: "Shook my house and heard a grinding metally kind of sound."
Nathan Franklin commented: "Heard a bang and felt the shake followed by a weaker one a few minutes later. I thought a lorry hit the building nearby. This was in Atcham."
UK Earthquakes
The UK is not a strongly seismic region with earthquakes of this magnitude happening roughly every two years.
The British Geological Survey site states: "The driving forces for earthquake activity in the UK are unclear. They include regional compression caused by the motion of the Earth’s tectonic plates and uplift resulting from the melting of the ice sheets that covered many parts of Britain thousands of years ago."
SEISMIC INFORMATION
WEM, SHROPSHIRE 30 MAY 2022 14;36 UTC 3.8 ML
DATE: 30 May 2022
ORIGIN TIME: 14:36 57.7s UTC
LAT/LON: 52.832° North / 2.614° West
GRID REF: 204.7 kmE / 624.4 kmN
DEPTH: 8 km
MAGNITUDE: 3.8 ML
INTENSITY: 4 EMS
LOCALITY: Wem, Shropshire
