On Tuesday night the British Geological Survey (BGS) picked up an earthquake of 3.8 magnitude in a somewhat unexpected place – just off the coast of Scarborough in North Yorkshire.
Seismic info: M3.8 #earthquake in Southern North Sea 3/1/17 @ 18:52 Lat/Long 54.438N / 1.960E Depth 18km
— BGS (@BritGeoSurvey) January 3, 2017
The quake was detected at 6:52pm about 150km (93 miles) east of the coast.This video shows how the quake compares with others that have happened in Britain.The BGS noted that where this latest earthquake struck was 50km (31 miles) away from the much more serious earthquake at Dogger Bank in 1931 which had a magnitude of 6.1.
M3.8 #earthquake approx 150 km east of Scarborough and 50 km NNE of the M6.1 Southern North Sea (Dogger Bank) event of 7 June 1931.
— BGS (@BritGeoSurvey) January 3, 2017
The Dogger Bank earthquake caused minor damage to buildings on the coast.The BGS said: “The UK is not generally associated with earthquakes; however, between 20 to 30 earthquakes are felt by people each year, and a few hundred smaller ones are recorded by sensitive instruments. Most of these are very small and cause no damage.” Some people are pretty surprised by the news – earthquakes aren’t exactly everyday fare in Yorkshire.
say what? an earthquake in Yorkshire ? seriously
— LeonaLewisFan1 (@LeonaLewisFan1) January 3, 2017
Earthquake approx 100 miles off the coast of Scarborough…bit close for comfort ??
— Karen Turner (@Karen_Turner7) January 3, 2017
Earthquake near Scarborough? Well that'll shake things up a bit.
— Paul Beilby (@PaulBeilby) January 3, 2017
Whereas others aren’t buying the drama of the situation.
Apparently the east coast of #Yorkshire experienced an #earthquake this evening. In Yorkshire this is major news.
— Philip A Devonport (@phdev85) January 3, 2017
#Earthquake #yorkshire #NorthSea #100milesEast #Scarborough pic.twitter.com/IZzsSyaHOE
— Clare Johnson /:-) (@ClarabelJohnson) January 3, 2017
#scarborough #earthquake #AintNobodyGotTimeForThat
— mandy austin (@mandygoxhill) January 4, 2017
Then came the inevitable jokes.
3.9 earthquake off the coast of Scarborough, hope everyone is alright! pic.twitter.com/0qDKvc3wDb
— Dan Smallbone (@DanSmallbone) January 3, 2017
We felt the #Yorkshire #earthquake in London pic.twitter.com/g8c1GEquA1
— John Francis (@finishmetea) January 3, 2017
Luckily those in Yorkshire need not panic, because it is unlikely that they felt any tremors and no damage has been reported.