© UK Daily Mail
The second earthquake in a fortnight rocked the North of England last night.
People near the epicentre in Ripon, in North Yorkshire, reported hearing what they described as an 'explosion' or a 'rumbling' when the quake hit.
It measured 3.6 on the Richter scale and experts estimate the tremor happened four miles below ground level.
Just a fortnight ago Coniston, in Cumbria, was struck by tremors measuring 3.5.
Last night's earthquake happened just after 9pm and caused worried people to run from their homes to safety.
It was felt across Cumbria, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire.
Chris Allinson, 17, was watching television with his family in Ripon when the quake rattled their home.
The A-level student, who is studying at Giggleswick School, said: 'I heard a loud rumbling like the sound of a big tractor passing the house outside.
'Things started shaking and the dogs started barking. It got louder and louder and I jumped up to get outside.
'Then there was just this rush of sound like a snowdrift falling from a tiled roof, and after that, silence. We stood outside and stared at each other.'
Comment: The Sott editors received an e-mail today from a reader who lives near the epicenter of the earthquake:
Having recently re-read "Secret History" and Laura's series on comets and asteroids I thought you might be interested.
We live approx. 20 miles from what is being described of the epicenter of the small ( initial news reports placed it at 4.2 and then dropped it to 3.8 ) earthquake in central Indiana at about 7:55 this morning, 12/30/10.
The "quake" was immediately preceded ( approx. 3 to 4 seconds ) by the sound of an explosion. My wife and several others, according to reports on local news stations thought something had either exploded,run in to or fallen on their homes. Our trash service was in front of our house at the time and my wife thought maybe the truck had somehow hit our house and as she went to check the shaking started. Having read Laura's work I just thought this might be of interest to the SOTT team. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks for your time,
Kelly W.
Noblesville ,IN