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Parts of Scotland rocked by FOUR earthquakes as huge tremors felt miles away
Scotland has been battered by more than 4,000 earthquakes in the past 50 years
TREMOR TERROR Parts of Scotland rocked by FOUR earthquakes as huge tremors felt miles away
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PARTS of Scotland have been rocked by FOUR earthquakes – with residents shaken by their effects.
The British Geological Society said the first and largest of the tremors – at 2.2 magnitude – was 'felt' at Tarbert with the epicentre at Melldalloch, five-and-a-half miles away across Loch Fyne.
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The BGS said the first and largest of the tremors was 'felt' at Tarbert
Credit: Getty
The first quake on Monday came at 6.21pm followed over the next hour-and-a-half by three more measuring between 1.1 and 0.5 magnitude.
The same day there was also a 1.5 magnitude tremor recorded at Wamphray in Dumfries and Galloway.
There has been a spate of earthquakes in the Highlands in recent days.
Two earthquakes within six seconds of each other hit another village in Argyll on Friday.
It was also Annat's third in a week.
The first 0.9 magnitude tremor on Friday was recorded 5.34 am, followed soon after by a 1.5 magnitude quake.
They followed a 1.9 magnitude tremor in the same area on August 8 which was felt at Taynuilt.
That in turn came after three quakes at Inchlaggan in the Highlands at the beginning of the month.
The largest of the trio – a 3.1 magnitude tremor - was recorded near Loch Cuaich with the epicentre close to the Cuaich Dam and locals said their entire homes were "shaking" .
They were all logged by the British Geological Survey.
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There are roughly 200-300 quakes in Britain every year, but the vast majority are so small that no one notices them. However between 20-30 are over 2.0 magnitude which can be felt over a wider area.
The largest known Scottish earthquake occurred near Loch Awe in 1880, with a magnitude of 5.2.
Earthquakes in Scotland are most often attributed to glacial rebound. Until about 10,500 years ago much of the north of the UK was covered by a thick layer of ice - which pushed the rocks down into the underlying mantle.
These rocks have been slowly rising back up ever since the ice melted, causing occasional earthquakes in the process.
The UK is also subject to tectonic stresses caused by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean, which is slowly pushing the entire of Eurasia to the east, and from the northward motion of Africa, which is pushing into Europe from the south.
The most damaging UK earthquake was in the Colchester area in 1884. Some 1200 buildings needed repairs, chimneys collapsed and walls were cracked.
Scotland has been battered by more than 4,000 earthquakes in the past 50 years.
But few have had a significant impact on residents.
