Third earthquake in three weeks hits Loughborough

A third earthquake in three weeks has hit Loughborough. The 2.4 magnitude tremor occurred at 10.50am today but is likely have gone unnoticed by most of the town's population. The quake happened more than a mile underground and there was a smaller tremble - measuring 1.5 on the Richter scale - a few seconds earlier. A slightly larger quake - measuring 2.9 - hit the town on January 19. David Galloway of the British Geological Survey said: "Today's were both small ones and these sorts of quakes happen about 150 to 200 times a year around the UK. "We only had one report this time, which is probably due to the time of day it happened. "If it had been in the evening when people were settled down and watching their soaps it probably would have prompted more calls but at this time in the morning people are going about their business. "Something like this would possibly cause crockery to rattle or windows to shake in panes but there wouldn't have been any paintings falling off the walls." He said that while all quakes were related to the same general forces in the Earth's, it was not a sign that Loughborough was about to become a tremor hot-spot. He said: "There have been three separate tremors in Loughborough in recent weeks but there might be one tomorrow or there might be no more for five years."