SECOND earthquake in a week hits Leighton Buzzard overnight as ‘aftershock’ tremor measuring 2.1 on Richter scale hits Bedfordshire town
- Tremor which hit at 11.20pm on Sunday night, was measured at magnitude 2.1
- It is thought to have been an aftershock from magnitude 3.5 quake on Sep 8
- Small earthquakes are not uncommon but are rarely felt in the Bedfordshire area
A second earthquake in the space of a week has hit Leighton Buzzard, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).
The tremor in Bedfordshire, which hit at 11.20pm on Sunday night, was measured by the BGS at magnitude 2.1.
It is thought to have been an aftershock from the magnitude 3.5 quake that was felt on September 8.
A BGS spokesman said: ‘The most recent event was over 100 times smaller than the event on September 8 in the same area.
‘The occurrence of smaller events from other previous UK earthquakes is not unknown.
The yellow circle shows the epicentre of the previous quake from September 8, while the red circle shows the epicentre of last night’s
The latest Leighton Buzzard quake is thought to have been an aftershock from the magnitude 3.5 quake that was felt on September 8
‘The small event that occurred in Bedfordshire last night could have occurred because all the stress in the rocks was not relieved by the event on September 8 in the same area or it caused a slight change to the stress regime in that location.
‘There is constant ongoing research in the academic world on the issue of aftershock occurrence.’
Responding to the quake, Rich Wilkinson-Iles tweeted: ‘What is going on??? Just woken by another earth quake in Leighton Buzzard!’
A second person said: ‘Pretty sure we just had ANOTHER earthquake here in Leighton Buzzard. What the hell is going on?’
While a third wrote: ‘Was that another #earthquake in #LeightonBuzzard?’
It comes just six days after a 3.5 magnitude quake rocked the town.
During the September 8 quake, residents described strong shaking and rattling walls, though police said no injuries were reported.
After Sunday’s quake, the BGS tweeted: ‘One report describes ‘It felt slower and less intense than the previous tremor’.’
Small earthquakes are not uncommon in the UK but are rarely felt in the Bedfordshire area.
Footage taken inside a home in Leighton Buzzard showed the moment the earthquake struck on September 8.
Witness Dean Gray shared the footage of his terrified dogs to Twitter with the caption: ‘Actually thought my house was falling down.’
Some 610,000 people live in the affected areas according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
It was felt at around 8.45am and had an epicentre 6.2 miles deep.