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i feel the earth move

"I thought someone was using a massive drill": Two small earthquakes hit England in two days

The epi-centre of the quake was in Oakham, Rutland.

oakham_18_apr_2014_felt_locationsSource: British Geological Survey

TWO SMALL EARTHQUAKES hit the East Midlands area of England over the past two days.

A 3.2 magnitude quake hit Rutland yesterday at 6.07am, followed by a 3.5 magnitude quake today at 6.50am.

oakham_18_apr_2014_seismo British Geological Survey British Geological Survey

The British Geological Survey described the first incident as "the largest earthquake to have occurred in the vicinity since the magnitude 4.1 ML Melton Mowbray earthquake on 28 October 2001".

The estimated area over which an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.2 ML, and depth of 4 km, would be felt was calculated to be a distance of up to 80 km from the epicentre.

It received around 450 felt reports from members of the public, most of which came from within a 30 km radius of the epicentre..

"Most people described the shaking strength of the earthquake to be either weak or moderate, with mainly a trembling effect, whilst others described the effect as swaying or jerky," said the BGS.

One person told them:

I thought someone in neighbourhood was using a massive drill in the house.

About half of the reports described the sound strength as being "faint-moderate". About one third of the reports stated that windows rattled and/or crockery and furniture shook.

Today's quake was at a depth of 2km.

Read: Magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits Papua New Guinea>

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