South Wales has been hit by the strongest earthquake in five years

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South Wales was rocked by the strongest earthquake in five years late Friday night.

The 3.7-magnitude quake hit the region at 11.59pm, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS), and was said to be strong enough to wake people from their sleep and rattle doors and windows.

It was felt about 25 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake at Brynmawr in Blainew Gwent. Several people said they heard loud noises before their homes shook.

BBC journalist Alex Humphrey tweeted: “I think we had a little earthquake in Cardiff. My whole bed shook. I felt like something hit the wall.”

BGS said it was the most powerful earthquake to hit the area since a magnitude 4.6 earthquake in February 2018 about 40km west, which it said was felt across Wales.

“Making our house shake”

Kath Wilcox, from Cwm, Blaenau Gwent, told Sky News: “I felt the earthquake and was really worried. It made our house shake, it was so loud and we could clearly feel the shock from it.”

Brian Baptie, head of seismology at the British Geological Survey, said: “South Wales has been hit by several major earthquakes in the past hundreds of years, including two earthquakes of magnitude 5.2 (local Richter force) and 5.1 ms near Swansea in 1727 and 1775. .

“The 5.2-magnitude earthquake of 1906 was one of the most damaging British earthquakes of the 20th century, with damage to chimneys and walls reported throughout South Wales.”

Baptie added that Britain only experiences one earthquake a year of magnitude 3.7 or greater, on average.

While between 200 and 300 earthquakes are detected by BGS on a yearly basis, most are of low magnitude and unnoticeable to humans.

The UK does not lie on tectonic plate boundaries, which makes it an area of ​​relatively low seismic activity compared to countries closer to plate boundaries.

Britain’s largest recorded earthquake occurred in the North Sea in 1931, with a magnitude of 6.1. Because it occurred 60 miles from shore, it caused only minor damage to buildings.

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