Earthquake shakes Mull

An early hours earthquake felt on Mull was strong enough to shake a whole house, according to reports.

The quake was felt in in Salen, Tobermory and Gruline on Mull, as well as on Lismore and in Morvern, where it was registered at Drimnin and Glenborrodale.

According to data recorded by the British Geological Survey (BGS), which is the UK’s national earthquake monitoring agency, the earthquake happened at 2.20am on Thursday January 3.

The depth was 8km and the magnitude was 2.2.

Earthquakes of a 2.2 or less magnitude are not usually felt but can be recorded by a seismograph. In comparison, a magnitude of 8.0 or greater can totally destroy communities. Posts on Everything Mull Facebook page reported the quake was felt by a number of people.

Some thought the rumbling at first was thunder or a heavy lorry passing. It lasted for about 30 seconds, sent dogs barking in Pennyghael, while someone from Salen posted the ‘whole house shook’.

The last recorded earthquake on Mull was on November 15 last year, measuring 0.8 magnitude just 2km below the earth surface.

In a list of British Isles earthquakes recorded over the past 100 days by the BGS, Islay also had one on November 3, rumbling 6km underground at a magnitude of 1.4. The Morvern one from January 3 was the second strongest magnitude of all on the list. The biggest was on November 12 last year at Leominster in Herefordshire and measured a 2.3 magnitude from a depth of 14kms.

In an average year, BGS detects about 100 earthquakes around Britain. Only about 20 per cent of them are felt by people.

Last January, the new year got off to a shaky start for the shores of Loch Fyne when buildings were shaken and family pets left terrified by an earthquake that struck with its epicentre on the eastern side of the loch on a hillside north of Lephinchapel Farm opposite Lochgair. Its magnitude was 2.4. Some described it as ‘muffled bang’ while others said it was like a ‘loud boom’.

In June last year, people living in Kintyre felt an earthquake twice, while in April 2012, Islay felt the earth move 10 times in just one month.

To find out more go to earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk