Shaken up 200 times each year
THERE are around 200 minor tremors in the UK every year but only 10 per cent are ever felt by the general public.
* A magnitude five earthquake occurs on average every 10 years. A magnitude four earthquake occurs on average every two to three years.
* Although everywhere in Britain is theoretically susceptible, the west side of the country and Scotland are particularly at risk.
* London can be affected by tremors in the English Channel but is hardly ever the epicentre itself.
* The largest tremor in recent times measured 5.4 but caused little structural damage when it hit Nefyn, north Wales, in July, 1984.
* Other earthquakes since then have been deemed to be "considerable" by the British Geological Survey include a 5.1 magnitude tremor which rocked Bishop's Castle in Shropshire in 1990.
* In 2000 there was an earthquake centred on Warwick, measuring 4.2.
* An earthquake in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, in 2001 measured 4.1.
* The largest earthquake recorded in the UK happened about 75 miles north-east of Great Yarmouth in the North Sea on 7 June, 1931. It measured 6.1 and was felt across Britain, in eastern Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and parts of Germany, France, Norway and Denmark.
