3.3 magnitude earthquake hits Staffordshire
There were reports of 'rumbling' and a 'bang'
Last updated 29th Jun 2023
People living in Staffordshire have reported "rumbling" and rattling windows and doors as the area was hit by a 3.3 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) confirmed the tremor, which had an epicentre 7.3km (4.5 miles) below the village of Tean.
It is the largest of 21 earthquakes to hit the UK in the last two months, comfortably beating two 1.8 magnitude tremors felt on the Isle of Mull in May.
There have been no reports of any damage.
It falls some way short of the record earthquake in the UK, which the BGS records as a 6.1 magnitude tremor in the North Sea, about 75 miles north east of Great Yarmouth, on June 7 1931.
The BGS said it had received reports from around the area on Wednesday night, mainly from within 20km (12.5 miles) of the epicentre, describing "an initial rumbling, then a bang" with what "felt more like a shunt, like something had hit something".
They says it detects and locates between 200 and 300 earthquakes in the UK each year.
Between 20 to 30 earthquakes annually are felt by people with the others only recorded by sensitive instruments.