British Geological Survey records biggest earthquake since Market Rasen in 2008

IT WAS the largest earthquake to hit the UK for a decade, but for some it barely even registered.

Those who felt the 4.4-magnitude tremor near Swansea at 2.31pm yesterday said it felt more like a lorry going by. A disrupted football match and a toppled golf trophy were among the more dramatic outcomes. There were no reports of serious damage or injury.

The British Geological Survey said the earthquake was felt as far away as the Midlands. A spokesman said: “It was reasonably sized. This earthquake has been felt across a large area of Wales and England with the furthest reports so far from Birmingham and Devon. This is the largest earthquake in mainland UK since the 5.2-magnitude Market Rasen earthquake in 2008.”

Tom Haden felt the quake while cooking at his home in Redcliffe, Bristol, and initially thought it was building works. The 27-year-old software engi- neer said: “I just felt the floor shake, a few things shaking and swaying in here; it lasted all of about 10 seconds.”

Alison Morgan, who works at Uplands Newsagents in Swansea, said: “My colleague noticed it first and wine bottles in the shop were shaking and a tile fell off the ceiling. I thought it was a lorry going past.” The quake was marked with sardonic posts on social media, including an image of a T-shirt that was shared with the words “The great quake of 2018 #Survivor”.

The earthquake’s epicentre was registered around 12 miles north east of Swansea at a depth of around five miles.

Swansea University was evacuated as a precaution, but police urged peo- ple not to call unless they had injury or damage to report.

The earthquake temporarily stopped play in Port Talbot’s Welsh league division one match against Taff’s Well.

Mountain Ash Golf Course in the Cynon Valley posted a photo of its championship shield, which had slipped from its wall fixings.