Yorkshire Dales residents shaken awake by earthquake that sounded like an 'explosion'

Residents in the Yorkshire Dales were shaken awake by an overnight which sounded like an "explosion". One local told how she was "scared half to death by the 2.5-magnitude quake, which was recorded just after 1.30am this morning near Litton in North Yorkshire.

But the tremor, which had a depth of 2.5 miles, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS) was felt an hour away from the village, according to locals. One woman told how she was awake with a , 40 minutes away from Litton. She said she heard a "strange deep rumble" early Friday morning and another said they thought it was military planes.

Another wrote she lives half an hour away from Litton and felt it: "Scared me half to death up in Starbotton. I'd convinced myself it was a bad dream before hearing others heard it too. My whole house shook and the noise! Thought a car had come off road and hit the barn."

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Others blamed the 'Craven Fault' line for the quake, which is a series of geological fault lines which run along the edges of the Yorkshire Dales. In December 1944 residents of the Dales were roused by a 'sleeping monster'.

It was a significant earthquake near Skipton, North Yorkshire that caused rattling windows, dislodging chimneys and sliding furniture. It had a magnitude of 3.1 and 4.8 on the Richter scale. Because it happened during World War II some locals initially feared it was a German bomb.

The last recorded in North Yorkshire was at Kilnsey in Wharfedale on March 18th, which was a magnitude of two. On Tuesday 1.2-magnitude earthquake in Cardiff.

Earthquakes below 2.5 can sometimes only be picked up with monitoring equipment but locals all over the Yorkshire Dales took to social media to claim they'd been shaken by the event. The British Geological Survey urged locals to get in touch if they felt the earthquake near Litton asking them to fill out an earthquake report on their website.

Sandra Lund wrote: "We were woken by it in Litton, sounded like a small explosion very. indeed. Couldn't get back to sleep...it was most weird sound made us both jump out of bede and look out of window."

While another said: "I was awake nursing a migraine and heard a strange sort of rumble. But it was around 2.30am. I did wonder at the time."

Several residents in Gayle in North Yorkshire, 53 minutes away from Litton, reported feeling a sound like "thunder". One nearby resident told the she and her husband were awoken by a "loud rumbling noise and the ground shaking".

It didn't last long at all," she added. Others on social media said they awoke with a start to a loud noise - with some people saying they initially believed there had been some sort of explosion.

Another 26 minutes away from Litton, wrote: "Woke me in Starbotton but I just assumed it was some military planes. They fly so low the house shakes. Very odd to 'hear' an earthquake."Some claim their pets were disturbed by the quake more than an hour and a half away, as far away as Castleford in West Yorkshire, with restless and barking.