UK

‘The whole house shook’ – Earthquake felt in South Wales seconds before midnight

A small earthquake has been recorded in South Wales – about eight miles north of the Rhondda Valley – just before midnight.

The 11.59pm tremor was 3.8 magnitude and occurred at a depth of two kilometres at 23:59:39, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

It put the location as 12km (7.45 miles) north of Rhondda.

Google’s Android Earthquake Alerts System said the tremor was 4.2 magnitude.

The quake has been reported by residents in Abergavenny, Crickhowell, Llangynidr Llanover and Llanfoist, with many saying that furniture and windows shook.

The specific location was at Llangenny, according to the USGS, which is a small village on the slopes of the Sugar Loaf mountain – a favourite with walkers.

Matt O’Shea, from the Blaenau Gwent area, told Sky News his “whole house shook for about five seconds”, others said it felt like their property had been hit by a car.

Many on social media said they were initially unsure what had happened.

Twitter user @Loz_Coult94 said: “Thought someone was breaking into my house, no… just an earthquake IN WALES!?”

Others described objects such as bookshelves and desks moving.

“I’m in Rhymney and felt the house shake, looked online to see if anyone else did.. and it was an earthquake in South Wales. I think I need a change of trousers,” tweeted @KrissOttley.

Helen Caswell added: “Our whole house shook in Rassau, Ebbw Vale and woke my husband up!! Really frightened us.”

“I thought some idiot had driven into my front door the way my room shook,” said Jack Hill, from Risca in Gwent, on Facebook.

Cath Willcox, from Cwm in Blaenau Gwent, told Sky News: “I felt the earthquake and was really concerned. It made our house shake, it was loud and the rumbling from it was clearly felt.

“We’re four to five miles from the epicentre of the earthquake.”

She said the whole village was affected, adding: “The village is in Cwm Ebbw Vale. An old mining village used to lots of action in the height of coal mining. This is not a wake up call we wanted.”

Shelly Organ was among many residents commenting on social media, writing on Facebook: “Being in Troedyrhiw we honestly thought someone had crashed into a wall so we checked the children were still sleeping and went out to check and there were a few in the street thinking the same.

“It made the house shake a little where it felt like something happened outside, glad it didn’t though.”

Danielle Morgan said: “It definitely felt a lot worse than a light shaking in Ebbw Vale. We thought someone had crashed into the cars on our drive. Frightening! Brought the whole estate out wondering what was going on! The whole house shook to the core.”

And Tracey Mosley added: “I saw and felt it. The wall moved toward me and back again. It felt like the house would collapse.”

Lloyd Rees tweeted: “Hear me out… was there just an earthquake in South Wales? The entire house just shook!”

Sylvia Davies It hadn’t occurred to me that it might have been an earthquake. Thought a poltergeist had moved in. Even more improbable maybe. West Cardiff. Twas just a second.”

The British Geological Survey, the UK’s main provider of quake data, has not yet issued any information on the quake.

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