Perthshire tops list for UK earthquakes

Region is one of the most active in the country

- LUCINDA CAMERON & JOHN-PAUL CLARK

More than 300 earthquakes have been recorded in the UK over the past year, with Perthshire topping the list for one of the most active region's in the country, according to the latest data.

Joining Perth and Kinross at the top of the list were the western Highlands in Scotland, southern parts of Wales, and Yorkshire and Lancashire in England, the British Geological Survey (BGS) data has revealed.

The two largest onshore earthquakes happened within a few hours on October 20 near Loch Lyon in Perth and Kinross, when a 3.7-magnitude tremor was shortly followed by one of magnitude 3.6. BGS said 34 of the earthquakes recorded over the year happened near Loch Lyon between October and December.

One local resident described it as feeling “like an underground subway under my house”, while another said “the house shook and all the windows rattled”.

After the event, BGS received 198 "felt reports" from people in the area describing their experience of the quake, some more than 60km from the epicentre.

The third largest onshore earthquake was one of 3.2 magnitude at Silverdale in Lancashire on December 3, which sparked nearly 700 “felt reports” from locals.