Earth moves twice for people around Tarbert

EARTHQUAKES left people around Tarbert feeling a little shaky this week.

A seismic alert by the British Geological Survey (BGS) confirmed Ormsary was the epicentre of two quakes in three days.

The quakes peaked at a 2.6 magnitude came from eight kilometres below ground but were four billion times smaller that the 2011 quake in Japan.

Tremors were felt around Tarbert at 6.19pm on Sunday April 29 and at 6.15am on Tuesday May 1.

Janeann Reppke posted on the All Things Tarbert Facebook page: ‘...our house shook – pretty scary.’

The effects were heard and felt by people in Tighnabruaich, Gigha, Clachan and Cairnbaan.

But BGS earthquake expert Glenn Ford said there is no need to panic. ‘They were unusual that they were felt by the general public as most that size go completely unnoticed but in this area’s case there are no big motorways or urban noise to cover it up. We’ve had much larger ones elsewhere in built-up areas that have completely bypassed the public.

‘It’s slightly unusual there were two of the same size happening within a couple of days in that part of the world but it comes down to how the energy has been released – sometimes it’s like a stuttering effect. The area around Ormsary and Tarbert is not sitting on one particular fault, the whole of the UK is criss-crossed by fault-lines. There’s nothing for people to worry about. They can sleep safe.’

Anyone who experienced either of this week’s quakes can fill in an ‘I felt it’ report at bgs.ac.uk