Shropshire earthquake: Tremors felt across county as residents report homes rocking

People across the north of the county, as well as parts of Telford, reported doors slamming and furniture moving for a few seconds when shocks were felt just after 3.30pm.

The British Geological Society confirmed that Wem was the centre of the activity with a magnitude of 3.8 on the Richter scale.

Clun Fire Station firefighters took to Twitter to share the seismic news with a photo of how the tremors were captured by the British Geological Survey.

Fire service manager, Jim Barker felt the quake in Harmer Hill.

Caroline and Paul Blair, who live in the centre of Whitchurch, said the quake lasted for just a few seconds, but was very noticeable.

"We were sitting watching TV and I heard a noise like a door slamming if you have left two doors open through the house.

"Then we noticed that our TV, which is on a stand, was moving and then the sofa that we were both sitting on just rocked. It was so weird, it was like someone was jumping on it."

Even residents in Shrewsbury felt the activity.

Harry Leather from Ellesmere Road in the town said: "We were sat on the sofa when it felt like the whole house was shaking, I've never felt anything like it.

"It must have been for around three to four seconds but long enough to know that the ground was shaking. It didn't feel bad enough to do any serious damage."

Many took to social media to discuss the quake.

Elizabeth in Condover said: "There was a big loud bang then my desk chair was wobbling like it was on a spin cycle."

In Ellesmere, John Shone wondered at first if he was feeling the affects of his recent bout of Covid.

"It was a strange feeling, very wobbly. I remember something similar back in the 1980s when there was a large tremor affecting N Wales and beyond."

There were reports from Prees, Wem, Whixall and Ellesmere as well as Market Drayton and even Telford as well as over the border in Cheshire.

The BGS urged people who felt the earthquake to fill in a questionnaire on its website to help its scientists in their work.

The quake comes three months after a 2.8 magnitude quake struck parts of the Black Country on February 22.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) reported Andrew Road in West Bromwich, near the M5 and the Walsall border, as the epicentre of the quake, which had a depth of 7km.

The service said the effects of the quake were felt in a 20km radius from its epicentre, with tremors being detected by residents in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley.

In March 1990, Shropshire experienced one of the biggest earthquakes to shake Britain for 100 years.

Centred between Knighton and Newtown, along the River Teme, experts originally estimated it at 6.3 on the Richter Scale but later reduced it to 5.2.

This was the same level as the last quake to strike Shropshire in July, 1984 - only three months after an earlier tremor measured 3.4 on the Richter Scale.

The 1990 quake saw chimney pots and other masonry fall from homes and parts of Shrewsbury were sealed off over fears of unsafe buildings.

There were fears over potential gas leaks and worries about the structural safety of some of the town's oldest buildings.

Centred between Knighton and Newtown, along the River Teme, experts originally estimated it at 6.3 on the Richter Scale but later reduced it to 5.2.

This was the same level as the last quake to strike Shropshire in July, 1984 - only three months after an earlier tremor measured 3.4 on the Richter Scale.