Never mind the snow! UK hit by 'biggest earthquake in two years'

Not only do we currently have to contend with 'snowmageddon', but the UK also experienced its biggest earthquake in two years on Thursday night.

A 2.9 magnitude tremor rippled through the East Midlands last night. and was felt across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire.

According to the Mirror, Julian Bukits, of the British Geological Survey, said the earthquake happened at 5.20am and was "average" for the UK.

One resident in Groby, Leicestershire, told BBC Radio Leicester: "It lasted at least 20 seconds and some DVDs fell off a shelf in my room."

Another caller said: "It sounded like an underground train coming and everything wobbled, but nothing fell off shelves."

According to Mr Bukits, the epicentre of today's seismic activity was located near Loughborough, Leicestershire, where residents would have felt a "bang and a slight vibration".

But local emergency services did not receive any calls about any damage or accidents.

On October 28 2001 there was a 4.1 earthquake near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, which Mr Bukits described as "big by UK standards".

According to the Guardian, he put Thursday night's quake into perspective by explaining it was a million times weaker than the 8.9 earthquake which struck off the Japanese coast, causing the devastating tsunami in March 2011.

He added: "Earthquakes generally have to be of 4.5 to 5 magnitude to cause damage."

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