A 4.4 magnitude earthquake has hit southwest England and Wales with thousands of people reporting they felt the tremors.
It struck at approximately 2.30pm and residents in Bristol and Cornwall said they “felt buildings shake”.
The quake’s epicentre is believed to have been around eight miles northeast of Swansea city centre, according to the US Geological Survey.
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Dyfed-Pows Police confirmed the earthquake was felt in their control room and said that a high volume of calls were being experienced in relation to the incident.
Mexico Mexico earthquake: helicopter carrying officials crashes, killing 13 people Military aircraft had interior minister and state governor on board when it crashed The scene of the helicopter crash in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca state. Photograph: Patricia Castellanos/AFP/Getty Images
A military helicopter carrying officials assessing the damage caused by a powerful earthquake has crashed in southern Mexico, killing 13 people and injuring 15.
The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital. All of the casualties were on the ground.
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Mexico’s interior department said the helicopter was carrying the interior minister, Alfonso Navarrete, and the Oaxaca state governor, Alejandro Murat. Neither suffered serious injuries in the crash.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of Friday’s quake at 7.2. The epicentre was near a surfing resort on Oaxaca’s Pacific coast at a depth of 15.3 miles (24.6 km).
The south of Mexico and the capital, Mexico City, are still recovering from earthquakes that caused widespread damage in September 2017.
Media images appeared to show bricks and rubble fallen from buildings and products tumbling off shelves in a supermarket. Tremors were felt as far away as Guatemala.
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In Mexico City, tall buildings swayed for more than a minute and seismic alarms sounded. Older structures in the upmarket Condesa neighbourhood knocked into each other, and cracks appeared in plaster and paintwork.
Two young men standing by a building that collapsed during the September earthquake were still hugging minutes after the tremor. People crowded into the streets, one woman in her pyjamas.
Patricia Gutierrez, a 66-year-old English teacher, was taking a nap with her 11-month-old granddaughter, Juliet, when she heard the alarm. “She recognised the sound. When I opened my eyes, I saw her eyes in terror. Her eyes were wide, like plates. She didn’t say anything,” she said.
Gutierrez managed to leave her ground-floor apartment before the quake began. “I left the phone and everything except for my shoes and the baby,” she said.
Guadalupe Martinez, a 64-year-old retiree, said she was still shaking from shock, but that the quake was a far cry from the September event.
“This time it was strong, but it did not jump up and down,” she said.
Earthquakes UK earthquake: tremor hits south-west England and south Wales British Geological Survey says magnitude-4.4 tremor struck 12 miles north-east of Swansea Swansea University Bay campus is evacuated after an earthquake shook parts of the UK. Photograph: @SweetlyShan/PA
A minor earthquake has struck the south-west of England and south Wales, the British Geological Survey has said.
The BGS said it was a magnitude 4.4 quake and that such an event only occurs in Britain about every two to three years.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A shake map of the 4.4-magnitude earthquake centred on south Wales. Photograph: USGS/EPA
The earthquake happened on Saturday about 2.30pm local time. The BGS tweeted:
BGS (@BritGeoSurvey) Just in: Event epicentre approx 20km NNE of Swansea, with 4.4 magnitude at a depth of 7.4km. Events of this magnitude only happen in the UK every 2-3 years.
People across the regions said they felt what they thought was an earthquake on Saturday afternoon.
jamesleonard (@jamesleonard40) Wow was that an earthquake in Swansea my house just shook #earthquake earthquake
Jo (@BlacksheepJo) #earthquake in Swansea Valley .... never thought I'd see the day! But the earth definitely moved for me! #scary #tremor #Wales #quake
SW Police Cardiff (@swpcardiff) There has been a minor earthquake throughout South Wales....no need for you to contact the Emergency Services unless you have something to report ie:- injuries or damage. Hope this sets you minds at rest SWP
Mark Wyatt, a third-year student at Cardiff University, was entering his house in the city centre when he heard a “weird, deep rumbling sound” at about 2.30pm.
The 21-year-old said: “We heard the noises before we felt the rumble, and then the house shook for a couple of seconds before it stopped.”
Tremors were felt across the Bristol Channel into England too.
Seth Piper wrote on Twitter: “OK pretty sure I just experienced my first ever earthquake … in Bristol, UK?”
MEXICO CITY -- A powerful earthquake shook south and central Mexico on Friday, causing residents to flee buildings in the country's capital. Crowds of people gathered on central Reforma Avenue in Mexico City as the ground shook.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's preliminary magnitude at 7.2 and said its epicenter was 33 miles, 53 kilometers, northeast of Pinotepa in Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles, or 24 kilometers. The epicenter is a rural area of western Oaxaca state near the Pacific coast and the border with Guerrero state.
Videos posted to social media showed light fixtures violently swinging inside office buildings. Others showed street and traffic lights swaying from side-to-side.
The Oaxaca state civil protection agency said via Twitter that it was monitoring the coastline.
In September, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck central Mexico, leaving 228 people dead in the capital and 369 across the region.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
