Earthquake near Melton Mowbray causes 'deep rumbles'

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Graph of earthquakeImage source, British Geological Survey
Image caption,
The British Geological Survey said residents reported deep rumbles and sounds "like trains passing"

Residents in Leicestershire reported deep rumbles after an earthquake about 4km away from a town.

Sounds "like trains passing" were reported after the earthquake, measured at a magnitude of 2.4, was recorded near Melton Mowbray on Wednesday night.

A number of people told the BBC they felt tremors, with one woman reporting a "strange sensation of motion sickness".

The British Geological Survey (BGS) added no damage has been reported.

The earthquake comes 11 years after a 5.3 magnitude earthquake was felt across the county, which was the biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years.

Pritesh Jadav, who was in Syston - about 10 miles from Melton Mowbray - at the time, said: "I was just watching TV and eating. I heard a loud rumble, like a distant train or lorry going by.

"It was loud enough to be noticed - I stopped what I was doing."

Alex Brown, was in nearby Mountsorrel, said: "It felt like something was going over the house but very low, like a plane.

"I heard a rumble... but louder."

Image caption,
The earthquake was approximately 4km north east of Melton Mowbray

In Oakham in Rutland, a woman reported feeling a "strange sensation of motion sickness" that she had not experienced before.

Glenn Ford, from the BGS, said 90% of the earthquakes that occur in the UK are not felt by the general public.

He said: "If they happened more frequently, people would just get used to them and wouldn't even notice them. It's a bit like living under a flight path."

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