Earthquake hits parts of UK as locals left fearing ‘car hit house’

British Geological Survey says 3.3 magnitude quake hit Isle of Mull in Scotland on Monday evening

An earthquake has struck parts of the UK, leaving locals fearing a car had crashed into their house.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the 3.3 magnitude quake hit the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides at 7.30pm on Monday.

It said movement was felt on Mull itself, on surrounding islands and on the mainland, mainly from within around 50km of the epicentre, which was in the north west of the island.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the 3.3 magnitude quake hit the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides at 7.30pm on Monday (Colin Palmer Photography/Alamy/PA)

Alasdair Satchel, who lives near the epicentre of the quake in the village of Dervaig, told BBC Scotland he heard a “long, loud crashing noise” while sitting at his desk and was left fearing a car had crashed into his house.

He said: “I thought 'what the heck is going on? My wife had just gone to take my father-in-law down the road to his house in the car, and I thought she'd slid on the ice and hit the house.”

Other residents reported that "the whole house creaked", "all the windows and doors rattled" and "the sofa seemed to vibrate".

More told BGS they "thought someone had crashed into the house" and "it was like a large explosion nearby".

Mr Satchel said his family also heard an aftershock. "It was very bizarre,” he added. “It's not the sort of thing you experience every day in Mull."

Some people took to social media to share their experience of the quake.

One person on Mull posted on X, formerly Twitter: "Anyone else here on the Isle of Mull think we've had a couple of earth tremors this evening? Like a rumbling train in a tunnel and lasting for a good number of seconds."

Another person wrote: "We heard a weird bang and the glasses and plates in the dresser started rattling."

Earlier on Monday, a 2.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded at Moidart in the Highlands at around 2.24pm, while a 1.1 magnitude quake hit Morvern, also in the Highlands, at 1.10pm. All three quakes were at a depth of 7km.

The BGS says it detects between 200 and 300 earthquakes in the UK every year, with most of those occurring on the western side of the mainland – but only between 20 to 30 quakes are felt by people each year.

It warns some British earthquakes have caused “considerable” damage, although nothing like the devastation wreaked by large quakes in other parts of the world.