On Thursday 27 February 2013, slightly before midnight GMT, the British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 2.5 Earthquake at a depth of 7 km, roughly 10 km southeast of central Nottingham. This is not a large enough event to present any danger, but is large for the UK, and was felt as far away as Derby.
The location of the 27 February 2013 quake. Google Maps.
The causes of Earthquakes in the UK are not simple, with most quakes being the result of the interaction of more than one source of tectonic stress. The UK, along with the rest of Eurasia, is being pushed to the east by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the impact of Africa into Europe from the south. There are also lesser areas of tectonic spreading beneath the North Sea, Rhine Valley and Bay of Biscay, all of which exert some stress on British rocks. Finally there is glacial rebound; until about 10 000 years ago there was a thick layer of glacial ice covering much of the UK. This pushed the rocks of the British lithosphere down into the underlying mantle. The ice is now gone, but the rocks are still rebounding, causing the occasional Earthquake in the process.
See also Earthquake in northern Leicestershire, Earthquake in northern Nottinghamshire, Earthquake in Leicestershire, Earthquake in Nottinghamshire and Earthquakes on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.
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