‘The whole house shook!’ Earthquake strikes Cornwall as residents fear area is being hit by sonic boom or an explosion
- Tremor felt by people in Helston and Redruth in west of county just before 5pm
- Quake had depth of 1.7miles, and happened around three miles from Falmouth
- Residents reported hearing ‘loud bangs’ and hearing their windows shake
Cornwall was his by an earthquake last night that shook houses and left terrified residents fearing it was an explosion.
The tremor was felt by residents in Helston and Redruth in the west of the coastal county at just before 5pm.
The earthquake’s epicentre was in the Channel around three miles off Falmouth.
The epicentre of the quake was around three miles south west of Falmouth (pictured)
Other reports came in from Twitter after the tremor. One man said: ‘What the hell was that! The whole house shook’
Another Twitter user, Justine O’Donohoe, said: ‘So we’ve apparently had a small earthquake in Cornwall. It was such an eerie sensation.’
The British Geological Survey confirmed the quake, which had a depth of 1.7 miles, while its epicentre was around three miles south west of Falmouth.
Other reports came in from Twitter after the tremor.
One man said: ‘What the hell was that! The whole house shook.’
One woman took to Twitter to say: ‘Just had a small earthquake in Cornwall. My beer is still standing so we are all good.’
The quake had a depth of 1.7 miles. Pictured is it’s epicentre on Cornwall’s south coat near Falmouth
The tremor was felt by residents in Helston and Redruth in the west of the county at just before 5pm and reported by the British Geological Survey
Another resident said: ‘Loud bang from beneath ( I was sat on sofa). Windows shook.’
Meanwhile, one man suggested the quake could have been caused by a ‘explosion or sonic boom’ – although these theories were proved to be false by the British Geological Survey confirming it was a quake.
The organisation said there are around 15 incidents of this size or more in the UK each year, but globally around 700 every day.