People living in Beds, Herts and Bucks were taken by surprise at 8.45am on Tuesday, September 8, by the ground shaking beneath their feet.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) reported an earthquake measuring 3.3 on the ‘momentum magnitude scale’. They say that the quake had a depth of six miles and the epicentre was in the Leighton Buzzard area.
Reports have been received of the tremor being felt 13 miles away in Milton Keynes.
People in the three counties have been reporting: “the whole house shook”, “our windows were rattling”, “we thought it was a HGV going by.”
The police have received a number of reports concerning the quake and the BGS have said they will be making a post on their Twitter feed.
The moment magnitude scale rates earthquakes based on the total amount of energy they release. The Richter scale rates earthquakes based on the size of their seismic waves, as measured by seismographs.