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Earthquake Shakes Rutland Residents Awake

Earthquake Shakes Rutland Residents Awake

A 3.2-magnitude has rattled residents of Oakham in Rutland, with some describing it as a feeling like an "explosion" or "massive bang".

The tremor in one of the most geologically-active areas of the UK shook people awake after being triggered at a depth of 2.5 miles at 7.07am.

Former English rugby union player Austin Healey and Strictly Come Dancing star tweeted: "We've just had an earthquake in Oakham. The house was shaking for about 10 secs."

Sara Dodd, from Whissendine, tweeted that it "felt like an explosion but without any sound".

Another resident - identified as Ali W - wrote on Twitter: "It was different to the last one ... A massive bang rather than a shake."

"I even thought a train had crashed at the back of us," she added.

Annie Wiffen chose to make a joke of it in her tweet: "Come to mum's for one night and a potential lie in and get woken up stupidly early by an earthquake. Got to laugh!"

The British Geological Survey aid seismologists were analysing data from the earthquake.

Julian Bukits of the BGS told Sky News: "The earthquake was mainly felt in the Melton Mowbray and Oakham area, with reports of it being felt as far south as Wellingborough."

He said the UK experienced around 200 earthquakes a year and the Rutland area was one of the areas where they were more common than other parts of Britain.

"The last one of comparable size - 4.1 - occurred in October 2001," Mr Bukits said.

He added that there were recordings of similar quakes in the 18th century with Leicester feeling a 4.1 earthquake in 1750.

"Compared with the recent magnitude 8.2 earthquake near Chile on 1 April, today’s Oakham earthquake is about 100,000 times smaller in ground movement," he said.