‘Powerful’ late-night 3.3-magnitude earthquake rocks northwest England

Tremors were felt in Lancashire and the Lake District on Wednesday night

A 3.3-magnitude earthquake sent tremors through homes across northwest England late on Wednesday night, the British Geological Survey has confirmed.

Striking shortly after 11.23pm, the tremor was felt widely across Lancashire and the southern Lake District, impacting towns such as Kendal and Ulverston, all within 12 miles of its epicentre.

Data indicates the seismic event originated just off the coast of Silverdale, Lancashire, at a depth of 1.86 miles.

Residents reported to the BGS that it “felt like an underground explosion” and was “so powerful it shook the whole house”.

Map of where the earthquake hit:

The red dot epicentre of the earthquake in Lancashire (British Geological Society)

The Volcano Discovery website, which monitors global seismic activity, received more than 1,100 reports from individuals in the affected area, with most describing the shaking as “light” or “weak”.

While the BGS detects between 200 and 300 earthquakes in the UK annually, only a fraction – typically 20 to 30 – are strong enough to be felt by the public.

The majority pass unnoticed, recorded solely by sensitive instruments, and rarely cause significant damage.

A tremor was felt in parts of the Lake District (Julia Clarke/The Independent)

The most recent earthquake exceeding 3.3 magnitude occurred on 20 October, affecting parts of Perth and Kinross in Scotland.

The BGS noted that the tremor struck at 7.25 am, with its epicentre located in Pubil, within the Glen Lyon region.

Last week, the US state of Alaska was rocked by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake.

The earthquake struck shortly after 8am on Thanksgiving near Susitna, about 37 miles northwest of Anchorage.

Tremors were felt from around 350 miles north of Anchorage, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage or deaths.

Alaska sees more earthquakes than any other US region, and the second-largest earthquake in recorded history hit the state in 1964.

The earthquake was measured at 9.2, although last week’s earthquake that struck on Thanksgiving morning marked the largest in south-central Alaska since 2021.