Earthquake in Oxfordshire

Total the BGS has reported that at 23:11Z (GMT) on 6th March 2016 a magnitude 2.3 earthquake occurred in Oxfordshire with the epicentre at the village of Emmington between Chinnor and Thame not a million miles away from where I reside.  Needless to say I slept right through (as I did when the Buncefield Oil Depot caught fire in December 2005 and people reported feeling the large explosions).

Those who did feel the event reported shaking of buildings and rattling windows.  

This earthquake although minor compared to the large ones we get in seismically active parts of the world, e.g. the Himalayas, does reinforce the fact that we regularly get minor seismic events (tremors) in the UK, typically a dozen or so a year which are large enough to be felt.

The cause will no doubt the release of accumulated strain along an old fault line at depth, approximately 7 km according to the BGS.

Included below is a map courtesy of the BBC News Web Site and a Summary Table from the BGS web site.