RESIDENTS at the centre of the most powerful earthquake in the region for 231-years have spoken of their shock at the tremor.

An earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter Scale struck at Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, in North Yorkshire, around 9pm on Monday, January 3.

The quake was the most powerful in the area since one measuring 4.8 on the Richter Scale in 1780 and homes as far away as Askrigg and Thirsk were affected.

Butcher Timothy Stothard, 41, owns Highside Butchers, on Main Street, Kirkby Malzeard, noticed damage to his home.

He said: "I was sitting on the settee and I felt a shudder all of a sudden.

"It lasted five or six seconds and things started rattling. I turned to my partner and I said that felt like an earthquake.

"Things were shaking in the house, but nothing was damaged. I went outside and discovered it had shaken coals from the coal bunker and a piece of heavy paneling on the garage had been shaken down."

Neil Fraser, of Church Bank, Kirkby Malzeard, said: "I wondered what it was.

"We live near a bank and I thought it might be someone with a heavy lorry trying to get up there and it only lasted about six seconds.

"It was a bit of a shock and slightly surprising when I found out what it had been."

Councillor Geoffrey Berry, chairman of Kirkby Malzeard, Laverton and Dallowgill Parish Council, was at home on Main Street, in the village, when the earthquake struck.

He said: "It sounded like a lorry crashing on the lane outside.

"The desk and all of the silver shook but it was all over in seconds. I looked to see if the chimney pot had fallen off but the house isn’t damaged."

This is the second earthquake that Northern England has suffered recently as one measuring 3.5 on the Richter Scale was centered on Coniston, in the Lake District, on December 21.

Professor Robert Holdsworth, head of department in Earth sciences, Durham University said: "There is nothing particularly unusual about the occurrence of the two small earthquakes in Northern England.

"By global standards, the UK is not particularly prone to earthquakes, but it does experience between 20-30 events every year that are sufficiently large to be felt by people.

"Very few of these cause significant damage, though they often make a significant and long-lasting impression on people who experience them."

Anyone who experienced the quake is asked to report it to the BGS on earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk.