Earthquake rocks Scottish town

The tremor was felt in Dumfries

An earthquake measuring 2.9 on the Richter scale has shaken a Scottish town.

Dumfries residents were rocked by the tremor on Sunday morning.

No-one was injured in the minor quake at 0927 BST, which lasted a few seconds.

But Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary received more than 100 calls from concerned members of the public.

We received reports of people claiming their houses shook and of some residents running out into their back gardens

Seismologist Bennett Simpson

A police spokeswoman said: "We had some reports about slates coming off roofs, but overall their was minimal damage and no one was injured."

Bennett Simpson, seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, said: "A large number of people in Dumfries felt this.

"We received reports of people claiming their houses shook and of some residents running out into their back gardens.

"There are around 200 to 250 earthquakes in the UK every year so this is not an unusual occurrence, and of these about 30 are felt."

Largest tremor

However, he pointed out: "The energy generated by the Dumfries quake is 30 million times smaller than that unleashed by the earthquake in India in January."

At least 30,000 people are estimated to have died in the Gujarat quake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale.

Mr Simpson said Sunday's earthquake was the largest tremor in the Dumfries area since 1984, when there was one measuring 2.7.

There have been 40 earthquakes within 10km of today's epicentre in the last 30 years.