Parts of northern Scotland were shaken by an earthquake in the early hours of the morning.
The tremor, which measured 5.1 magnitude, occurred at 5.32am about 112 miles north-east of Shetland.
The British Geological Survey said it was felt in Shetland, Aberdeen, Ellon, Stonehaven, Helmsdale, Inverurie, Lairg, Huntly, Banff and Fraserburgh.
About 70 members of the public reported the quake, which is said to have lasted about two minutes.
They reported hearing a “low rumbling sound” while in bed and “three waves of vibration in about three seconds”.
Others said it had woken them up as the windows and mirrors “rattled”.
The survey said one report came from Aberdeen – more than 311 miles from the epicentre, which was about 86 miles west of Norway and 112 miles north east of Shetland.
SEISMIC ALERT: NORWEGIAN SEA 21 MARCH 2022 05:32 UTC 4.9 ML
DATE: 21 March 2022
ORIGIN TIME:05:32 55.2s UTC
LAT/LONG: 61.540° North / 2.214° East
DEPTH: 15.0KM
MAGNITUDE: 4.9 ML
LOCALITY: Norwegian Sea, approx 180km north-east of Shetland & 140km west of Norway
INTENSITY: 3 EMS pic.twitter.com/jL9Qy61Qtg— British Geological Survey (@BritGeoSurvey) March 21, 2022
Quake sounded like a ‘low sounding jet’
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake happened 10km beneath the earth’s surface in the Norwegian Sea.
Ryan Thomson, who lives in Wadbister, Shetland, said he woke up to something that sounded like a “low flying jet”.
He said: “I initially woke up with the sound which was very similar to a very low flying jet or extremely loud thunder, it wasn’t until I saw the lightshade moving that I clicked that this could be a small earthquake.
“There wasn’t much movement here, I believe other parts of Shetland felt that more, but the noise was extremely loud and quite alarming.”
In January a significant earthquake measuring 3.6 in magnitude was recorded in the North Sea, in an area of oil and gas platforms.
It struck around 146 miles east of Aberdeen.
The 4.2 magnitude event was reported felt by several people on the Production/Utilities/Quarters (PUQ) platform in the Elgin-Franklin gas and oil field.
It is not yet clear if today’s quake was also felt by on the rigs.
