Earthquakes hit UK popular walking site three times in just six hours

A popular hiking spot in the UK has been rocked by three in just six hours where “whole houses shuddered”.

Schiehallion is one of ’s best known hills, attracting climbers due to its stunning views and relative ease to despite being more than 1,000 metres high. And it is the beauty spot in Perthshire which has had the trio of earthquakes with the first tremor at 6.58am on Monday, according to the British Geological Society.

The number of earthquakes taking place in the UK have been increasing this year according to statistics from the organisation with more than 60 so far.

And the first tremor on Monday morning was followed by two more at 12.14pm and 12.16pm, while there had also been a previous quake at Schiehallion at 11.55pm on April 2.

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Local residents felt the tremors although they were not strong on the Richter scale. Accounts included reports that “roof tiles rattled from the quake, “the whole house shuddered” and “loud rumbling”.

One person in nearby Inervar, Glenlyon, said the quake “only lasted a couple of seconds and sounded like a badly installed washing machine kicking into fast spin cycle”.

The first tremor, recorded at a depth of three kilometres, registered 1.8 on the Richter Scale and then five hours later there were two less powerful quakes nearby. The second had a reading of 0.8 on the scale and came at a depth of four kilometres and two minutes later there was the third which was two kilometres deep and was registered at 1 on the Richter chart.

They are all considered to be microquakes and the fact they were felt by local people is likely due to the fact they were at a relatively shallow depth.

This latest trio of quakes came after another was also recorded in Ballintyre, north of Loch Tay, in Scotland at 10.55pm on Wednesday, April 2. It took place on land between Kinloch Rannoch and Fortingall. The tremor was felt in Fearnan, Kinloch Rannoch and Tummel Bridge and the shockwave measured 1.7 magnitude on the Richter scale but residents again still felt the tremor.

Roger Musson, a former Head of Seismic Hazard and Archives at the British Geological Society, explained the apparent increase in the frequency of earthquakes is all to do with the reading of the strongest tremors.

Roger, who is the author of the historical earthquake catalogue in the UK, told the: "There is a simple rule of thumb - for every decrease of one unit of magnitude, one expects a tenfold increase of number.

"So if the tectonic situation of the UK results in one 3.5 magnitude earthquake on average every year, then typically one should get ten of 2.5, 100 of 1.5 and so on. Most of these will be too weak or too remote to be noticed by people, but can be detected by instruments."