UK hit by 3.3 magnitude earthquake as residents feel homes shake
Locals were left looking for explanations after feeling the ground move
The wind down to the weekend is off to a shaky start thanks to a 3.3 magnitude earthquake which caused people's homes to start 'rumbling'.
It's not out of the ordinary for our little island to be hit with an earthquake, with the British Geological Survey (BGS) recording and locating between 200 and 300 each year in the UK - though it's only a minority that are actually felt by people on the ground.
Most earthquakes in the UK are only detected by sensitive instruments, but this week's was the biggest of 21 earthquakes which have struck in the last two months.
The 3.3 magnitude tremor hit last night (28 June) in the county of Staffordshire, with its epicentre located about 4.5 miles (7.3 km) below the village of Tean.
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Locals reported experiencing 'an initial rumbling, then a bang' after the quake.
According to the BGS, residents also reported what 'felt more like a shunt, like something had hit something', as well as the 'rattling' of windows and doors.
People located as far as 12.5 miles from the epicentre experienced the shaking, though not everyone clocked on to what was happening straight away.
Tom, a 38-year-old living in Cheadle, said: "I was sitting watching an episode of Only Connect with my wife on YouTube and as we opened another bottle of wine the whole house shook.
"I thought either one of the children had fallen out of bed or something else had happened."
Maybe it was the universe's way of telling Tom that a second bottle of wine wasn't the best idea on a week night?
Uttoxeter resident Mark Begg, 30, was quicker to guess that he was experiencing an earthquake after he felt a 'very large shake' while at home.
After checking the house and finding no signs of damage, Mark came to the conclusion 'it was most likely a mini-earthquake', the BBC reports.
Other locals took to social media to share their experiences of the quake, with one writing: "Well, just when I think the world couldn't get weirder.......we had an EARTHQUAKE......in STAFFORDSHIRE.....they say it were a 3.4. I mean, that's a bit surprising. My husband didn't notice the house shake apparently."
Other tweeted: "Definitely felt in Uttoxeter - didn't realise it was an earthquake thought the crash was something to do with the neighbours building work."
It's admittedly a bit surprising how many people were able to come up with alternative explanations for why the entire ground moved beneath them, but I suppose they'll be glad to know that it's not something they have to worry about very often.
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Emily Brown