Cornwall earthquake: Residents hear ‘loud bangs like a lorry crash’ as 2.7-magnitude tremor hits off the coast

• Did you feel the tremors? Contact [email protected] 

Cornwall has been hit by an earthquake ‘like a juggernaut had hit the house’, waking people in the middle of the night. 

The 2.7 magnitude tremor has been recorded off shore in the English Channel with the epicentre just west of Predannock Airfield and The Lizard peninsula at around 00.50am today. 

People in West Cornwall including in Penzance, Marazion, Porthleven, Helston and Camborne reported feeling the quake.  

The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded the tremor as having a depth of 13km. 

‘Reports have been received from residents in Helston, Penzance and Camborne, Cornwall that this event was felt,’ they said. 

Did you feel the tremors? Contact [email protected] 

The map above shows the epicentre of the 2.7 magnitude earthquake in West Cornwall, with the tremors being felt as far as Penzance

The British Geological Survey said people had reported the quake as feeling like a ‘juggernaut hitting the house’ (Pictured: Mount’s Bay, in Cornwall, near to where the earthquake struck)

‘Reports described “a moderate rumbling” and “a bang and a judder, like a juggernaut had hit the house”.’

Earthquake magnitude scale 

Great: 8.0 or larger 

Significant damage expected

Major: 7.0 to 7.9

Damage expected

Strong: 6.0 to 6.9

Damage may occur

Moderate: 5.0 to 5.9 

Minor damage may occur

Light: 4.0 to 4.9

Likely felt

Minor: 3.0 to 3.9

May be felt 

Many took to X, formerly known as Twitter, saying they heard a ‘loud rumble’ with one person saying their house ‘shook’ for a few seconds. 

One person said: ‘It was a loud rumble but it shook the house too for 3-4 seconds, sounded almost like an avalanche.’

Another who lives near Helston thought a tractor had gone past their home. 

‘I thought a tractor must have gone past or thunder but it’s a bit late in the day for tractors,’ they wrote. 

‘I’m the other side of Helston from u so if it was thunder it was widespread but it was just the once.’

Others guessed it might have been a ‘low flying plane’ or a jumbo jet, while another said the tremor had woken them up. 

A third person said: ‘A friend was woken up by it in St Buryan… never disturbed me in PZ or did it? Now remember looking at the clock at 1.00.’

Millions of earthquakes at a 2.5 magnitude or below are recorded each year and are usually not felt, and they do not cause damage to buildings and infrastructure.

In 2005 an earthquake beneath the waters in the Channel was recorded south of Plymouth and measured 3.1 on the Richter scale, causing buildings to shake and rattling windows and household objects.

A quake measuring 3.8 struck Mount’s Bay near Penzance and shook other parts of Cornwall.

In February this year, the BGS put together a map showing the worst earthquakes to have hit Britain in the past 640 years. 

The biggest on record occurred in June 1931, with a massive 6.1-magnitude quake in Dogger Bank out in the North Sea.

People took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say they had felt the rumble in the middle of the night

The British Geological Survey has collated all the earthquakes felt in Britain since the year 1382. Pictured: Top ten largest UK earthquakes 

As it was 60 miles offshore, there was only minor damage caused to a few buildings in the east of England, although a few vessels did report that they felt tremors.

Around 10,000 quakes have rippled through Britain in the past 50 years. 

The UK will feel a magnitude-4.0 earthquake roughly every two years, and one magnitude-5.0 or higher every eight years.

It also experiences a tremor of between 1.0 and 1.9 on the Richter scale every two and a half days.

According to the BGS, the largest possible earthquake in the country would have a magnitude of about 6.5, but this remains to be seen. 

Did you feel the tremors? Contact [email protected] 

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