‘Sonic boom’ as small earthquake shakes Cornwall
An earthquake has shaken Cornwall, with some describing the seismic event as like a “sonic boom” or a “loud bang from beneath”.
The British Geological Survey said a tremor with a magnitude of 2.2 rocked an area about three miles (5km) south-west of Falmouth at around 6pm on Thursday.
In a series of tweets, the BGS highlighted that one member of the public reported the earthquake as a “loud bang from beneath” and that the “windows shook”.
SEISMIC ALERT Cont’d:
A small number of reports have been received from the immediate area by members of the public. One described “Loud bang from beneath (I was sat on sofa). Windows shook”
— British Geological Survey (@BritGeoSurvey) August 8, 2019
Shortly after the quake struck, those who felt the earth move tweeted their surprise.
Nick de Larrinaga wrote: “Down in West Cornwall and seems we just had an earthquake! Either that or a sonic boom/explosion of some kind.”
And Steve32 posted: “What the hell was that! The whole house shook!”
According to the BGS there are 15 earthquakes in the UK every year.
