1.6-magnitude earthquake hits near Welsh beauty spot – with residents feeling tremors for miles

A Welsh beauty spot has been hit by a 1.6-magnitude earthquake with residents miles away from the epicentre feeling the tremors. 

The earthquake struck the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, North Wales, rattling houses and forcing residents to flee their homes. 

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the tremor on Tuesday registered 1.6 on the Richter scale. 

On social media, people mistook it for a sonic boom with residents saying they experienced a ‘long steady rumble’ and ‘some vibration’. 

Its centre was in the small hamlet of Llwyndyrus, just miles from where the UK’s largest ever recorded earthquake four decades earlier.

People reported feeling the tremor as far away as Cwm-y-glo, near Llanberis, and Waunfawr, close to Caernarfon.

A local said their house ‘creaked a bit’ and others described rushing outside to see what was going on.  

The Llŷn Peninsula ranks among the UK’s 10 most active earthquake zones with approximately 300 tremors logged since 1970.

The earthquake struck the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, North Wales, rattling houses and forcing residents to flee their homes

A local said their house ‘creaked a bit’ and others described rushing outside to see what was going on

It was the site of Britain’s most powerful onshore earthquake since instrumental recording started.

In July 1884, a 5.4 magnitude event was felt throughout Wales, most of England, and sections of Ireland and Scotland.

It triggered rockfalls and fractured stonework with the most severe damage occurring in Liverpool 65 miles away. 

During the month that followed, roughly 80 aftershocks were detected, the strongest measuring 4.3 in magnitude.

Northwest Wales is known for its high seismic activity.

Notable earthquakes were recorded in 1852, 1903 and 1940, with smaller incidents occurring in Bangor and Anglesey in 1967 and 1969.

Recently, seismic activity has been concentrated in Powys, where four tremors have been recorded in the last two months. 

The most recent, a 1.3 magnitude quake, occurred near the popular hiking spot of Naughty Stone in Llangynidr on August 19.

There was also seismic activity recorded at Llanddewi on July 27 (0.8 magnitude) and Llangurig on July 25 (1.1 magnitude). A larger event took place at Knucklas July 7 (2.5 magnitude).

Larger earthquakes have been recorded off the UK coast, notably a 6.1-magnitude event at Dogger Bank in the North Sea in 1931. This caused a small, non-destructive tsunami to hit the east coast of England.

This summer, small earthquakes have been detected in the Irish Sea. Among them was a minor tremor (0.2 magnitude) 16km north east of Amlwch, Anglesey, on July 16.