Village hit by second earthquake in two weeks

A second minor earthquake has hit a Lancashire village in as many weeks, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has said.

It happened at 05:03 GMT with the epicentre of the 2.5 magnitude tremor located off the coast of Silverdale, in Morecambe Bay.

The BGS confirmed the quake was an aftershock of a 3.3 magnitude earthquake which hit the area at the start of December.

The tremors were reportedly felt as far as 12 miles (19km) away, in the southern Lake District, with people at the time describing the noise as "deafening".

After the less powerful earthquake earlier, the BGS said people had reported "a quick sharp shaking jolt and made a thunder noise" and "the radiators and pictures rattled".

It told the BBC aftershocks after bigger events are "not unusual".

The BGS describes aftershocks as smaller earthquakes that occur in the same general area during the days to years following a larger event or "mainshock."

The earth is made up of huge pieces of flat rock called tectonic plates.

Earthquakes are caused by the tectonic plates that make up the earth moving and rubbing together.

Where they meet together are called faults.

Aftershocks are minor readjustments along the part of a fault that slipped at the time of the mainshock.

The frequency of these aftershocks decreases with time, said the British Geological Survey.

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