Two earthquakes in Norfolk and Essex, with respective Richter scale readings of 3.7 and 2.6, have jolted the UK this month.
Despite the fact that Britain is not prone to severe tremors, seismologists record up to 300 earthquakes year, of which 20 to 30 are actually felt.
Two interactive maps created by the British Geological Survey (BGS) display the precise number of earthquakes that have occurred in Britain since 1382.
The largest on record was a tremendous 6.1-magnitude earthquake that occurred at Dogger Bank in the North Sea in June 1931.
Although a few vessels reported feeling vibrations, as it was 60 miles offshore, just a few structures in the east of England sustained minor damage.
The map with the red dots depicts all earthquakes that happened between 1956 and the present with instrumentally recorded epicenters near the United Kingdom.
While the earthquakes recorded in historical archives between 1382 and 1970 are depicted on the map with the yellow dots.
Britain has seen about 10,000 earthquakes during the previous 50 years.
The 10 most seismically active regions in the nation were identified by mapping experts at Esri UK in 2017 in honor of National Richter Scale Day.
These areas in England are primarily in the west and include Manchester, Blackpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Mansfield, and Gweek in Cornwall.
Wales’ Llyn Peninsula had the highest level of activity, while Scotland’s Edinburgh, Clackmannan, Knoydart Peninsula, and Dumfries had the highest levels.
But in eastern Scotland, north-east England, and Ireland, earthquakes are nearly nonexistent.
More earthquakes occur in the North Sea than on British soil.
Every two years or so, the UK will see an earthquake of magnitude 4.0, and every eight years, an earthquake of magnitude 5.0 or higher.
Every two and a half days, it also experiences a tremor measuring 1.0 to 1.9 on the Richter scale. Earthquakes are caused when two tectonic plates that are sliding in opposite directions stick and then suddenly slip.
The asthenosphere, a heated, viscous conveyor belt of rock, lies underneath the tectonic plates and is made up of the Earth’s crust and the topmost layer of the mantle.
The fact that they don’t all move in the same direction and frequently collide causes intense pressure to build up between the two plates.
One plate eventually jolts under or over the other due to the pressure.
This unleashes a tremendous quantity of energy, causing tremors and damage to any adjacent buildings or infrastructure.
The fault lines where tectonic plates collide are typically the site of powerful earthquakes, although mild tremors that nonetheless register on the Richter scale can occur in the midst of these plates.
This is due to strains in the Earth’s crust brought on by movement along fault lines being released within tectonic plates.
This explains why there are still earthquakes in the British Isles despite being some distance from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the region’s nearest tectonic plate boundary.
Seismic waves—also referred to as the magnitude and intensity of the shock waves produced by earthquakes—are used to detect them.
At the margin of the Pacific, almost 75% of the seismic energy generated worldwide is discharged.
On February 27, 2008, the largest UK earthquake in recent memory occurred, with Market Rasen, in Lincolnshire, serving as the epicenter.
The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5.2, was felt in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, the Midlands, Norfolk, and some areas of Wales.
Before 1am, there was a ten-second tremor that occurred at a depth of 9.6 miles; an aftershock of 1.9 magnitude followed at 4am.
Since a magnitude-5.4 earthquake that happened in Leyn in North Wales on July 19, 1984, and was felt across 150,000 square miles, it was the largest earthquake ever recorded.
On April 22, 1884, the most devastating earthquake to ever strike the UK struck Colchester and the nearby communities in Essex, causing damage to roughly 1,200 structures.
It was believed to be the result of movement along a fault in the county’s subsurface Palaeozoic rocks.
The earthquake, which registered 4.6 on the Richter scale and lasted about 20 seconds.
