ENGLAND and Wales were shaken last night by an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale.

The epicentre was 8km east of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, and 22km south west of Grimsby.

Areas across Wales felt the tremor with reports that people as far south as Swansea and Cardiff felt tremors, but emergency services in those areas said they had not received any calls about the earthquake overnight.

Seismologist Dr Brian Baptie of the BGS said: "This is a significant earthquake for the UK and will have been widely felt across England and Wales."

The BGS said it records around 200 earthquakes in the UK each year - an eighth of which are able to be felt by residents.

It said earthquakes of this size occur in the mainland UK around every 30 years but are more common in offshore areas.

Wednesday's quake is the largest since 1984 when an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook the Lleyn Peninsula of north Wales and was widely felt across England and Wales.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) claimed that, while the event was "light to moderate" on a world scale, it was "very significant", given the UK's relatively uneventful seismic history.

  • Did you feel the tremor where you live? Let us know.