Surrey and West Sussex hit with second earthquake in just three months

A small earthquake in Newdigate, near Gatwick Airport, shook Surrey and West Sussex yesterday afternoon (27 June), less than three months after the area's first recorded case, on 1 April.
The recent earthquake is the area's second in less than three months (Image: British Geological Survey)The recent earthquake is the area's second in less than three months (Image: British Geological Survey)
The recent earthquake is the area's second in less than three months (Image: British Geological Survey)

The more recent tremor measured in at 2.6 on the Richter scale, shaking houses and furniture in Newdigate, Charlwood and Crawley, according to scientists from the British Geological Survey (BGS).

The quake itself took place at a depth of 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) just before 12:30pm.

A possible pattern

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The epicentre of April’s earthquake (which happened on Easter Sunday) was recorded 2.3 kilometres away from Newdigate in Surrey, measuring 2.7 on the Richter scale.

It was the first Surrey earthquake on record, and the largest in the South of England since 1985.

At the time, West Sussex County Times reported that the earthquake was likely to be a “once in a lifetime event”, according to David Galloway at the BGS.

The area’s second earthquake was felt just 13 weeks later, and even occurred at a similar time of day to the first, which took place at 12:10pm on 1 April.

Not in an earthquake zone

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Seismologist David Galloway also revealed that there had been just 25 earthquakes recorded in the South of England since 1750.

Following news of the recent earthquake, Sarah Nice from the BGS clarified that Britain is not in an earthquake zone, but its rocks do have stresses and strains that can move and lead to tremors.