Earthquake in town 'sounded like lorry hit house'

Residents who heard a loud bang in Grimsby have spoken of their surprise to discover the town had been hit by a small earthquake.

The epicentre of the 2.2 magnitude tremor was detected in the suburb of Scartho at 18:47 BST on Tuesday, the British Geological Survey (BGS) confirmed.

A BGS spokesperson said that while the quake, which had a depth of 1.8 miles (3km), "wasn't anything out of the ordinary", it had received 70 responses from people who had felt it.

Paul Forrington, 68, from Grimsby, said he felt his house shake for about a second, adding: "It sounded just like a lorry had smashed into a house. I didn't think it was an earthquake".

John Murphy, 64, said it sounded like someone had hit the side of the caravan he was in with a hammer.

He said he "couldn't believe it" when he found out it was an earthquake.

Seismologist Callum Harrison said: "We'll get about 20 to 30 of these on average in a given year, but due to its close proximity to Grimsby, it was felt quite widely - more than we'd expect for an earthquake of that size usually."

He said people in the vicinity would perhaps "feel maybe a low rumble or jolt, but it's usually more heard than it is felt."

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