EARTHQUAKES

Minor earthquakes occasionally occur in Herefordshire, usually as a result of movements along faults some kilometres down in the basement, well beneath the rocks which are seen outcropping at the surface. Two notable earthquakes have taken place in historical times. The largest was a magnitude 5.3 event on 17 December 1896 (a substantial account of which, by Charles Davison, is in the Woolhope Club's library; the text of a summary by Davison is available on the Project Gutenberg website.

The most recent was a magnitude 3.6 event on 26 October 2008, details of which have been posted by the British Geological survey (BGS).