A 3.3-magnitude earthquake has struck multiple UK towns, with dozens of people saying it shook their homes or woke them up.
The tremor hit homes in north-west England late on Wednesday, the British Geological Survey (BGS) reported.
The tremor struck shortly after 11.23 pm and was felt across Lancashire and the southern Lake District, including the towns of Kendal and Ulverston, within 12 miles of the epicentre.
Preliminary data suggests the quake occurred just off the coast of Silverdale, Lancashire, at a depth of 1.86 miles.
Frightened residents told the BGS it “felt like an underground explosion” and was “so powerful it shook the whole house”.
Another comment online said the earthquake “sounded like bricks falling/the roof falling in”.
Dozens of messages on X, formerly Twitter, reported the earthquake in the surrounding area.
“Whole place shook twice, here in a lakeside holiday rental in Carnforth,” wrote one.
Another person also from Carnforth, near the epicentre, said: “I’m used to my door slamming as it is hard to shut, but only registered it was an earthquake after someone had told me.”
The Volcano Discovery website, which also collects information on earthquakes, received more than 1,100 reports from people who were in the area at the time.
Most reports detailed “light” or “weak” shaking.
Each year, the BGS detects between 200 and 300 earthquakes in the UK, but only around 20 to 30 are strong enough to be felt.
Most go unnoticed, recorded only by sensitive instruments, and the vast majority cause little or no damage.
However, the most recent earthquake measuring more than 3.3 magnitude was felt in parts of Perth and Kinross on October 20.
The BGS said the quake struck at 7.25am, with its epicentre in Pubil, in the Glen Lyon region.