On the sunny hot lunchtime of July 11th, the ground suddenly and violently shook for a period of several seconds across the Channel Islands. Buildings were reported to have swayed, objects rattled on shelves and many people reported to have heard a loud rumbling noise which lasted around ten seconds. No injuries or damage were reported however this unusual incident was observed across the whole of the Channel Island region and further afield in Normandy and Brittany in France. Within a period of minutes, locals were buzzing media outlets, police desks and social media sites asking the question 'What on earth was that ?'
Soon after the BGS (British Geological Survey) reported that the Channel Islands were hit by a powerful tremor which had its epicentre in the ocean 11km's to the south of the island of Jersey.
The tremor (or quake) was measured to be around 4.2 on the Richter scale and was the most powerfulest of jolts to have shaken the islands for over 90 years. Ironically Jersey's local BBC Radio station was spinning 'Rocking All Over The World' when the quake took place.
In the days that followed, the story slowly died down in the island's communities, however, three days after the original tremor, another less noticeable quake was reported and since then an almost daily occurrence of these incidents have taken place. The most recent earthquake occurred at just before 17:30 late yesterday afternoon, when a ten second quake, mostly felt in Jersey and on the western side of the island began shaking buildings.
This quake was reported to be 3.2 on the Richter scale (around twenty times smaller than the quake two weeks previous) and had a depth of about 15 miles and centered 17 miles the south west of Jersey. Again no damage or injuries were reported. Historically the Channel Islands have never been immune to these occurrences, however the sudden frequency of these tremors and quakes, (ten now reported in less than two weeks) must be making people wonder what on earth is going on under their feet and oceans and are we in line for something more substantial ?
