BRITAIN has been hit by 309 earthquakes this year — with Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland rocking the most.
The two largest onshore quakes came hours apart in October when a 3.7-magnitude tremor was followed by one of 3.6.
They triggered 198 reports to the British Geological Survey, with one resident near Loch Lyon in Perth and Kinross saying it felt “like a subway under my house”.
The third largest, of 3.2 magnitude, was reported by 700 people around Silverdale, Lancs, earlier this month.
Pontefract in West Yorks had a 2.6 magnitude quake and another at Litton, North Yorks, was measured at 2.6.
BGS seismologist Brian Baptie said: “There were numerous events in Scotland, England and Wales that were each significant enough to be widely felt nearby.
“It is a reminder that small earthquakes happen all the time and it remains of critical importance that they are studied to help us understand the possible impact of the rare large earthquakes.”
He added: “The west of Scotland is one of the more active parts of the UK. Some of this can be attributed to well-known geological faults like the Great Glen Fault and the Highland Boundary Fault.
“By contrast, North East Scotland experiences very few earthquakes.”
The BGS, which has 80 monitoring stations, said its figures covered this year up to December 18.
Many of the quakes were not powerful enough to be felt by humans.
But it warned the largest seismic events previously recorded here had magnitudes of up to six.
A magnitude four event in or around the UK is typically recorded every three to four years, and a magnitude five event every few decades — the most recent being in 2008 in Lincolnshire.
A magnitude six earthquake strikes Britain every few hundred years on average.
