The British Geological Survey (BGS) has confirmed an earthquake off the north west coast of Wales.
The 0.4-magnitude tremor’s epicentre was located 5.6 miles southwest of Rhosneigr in the Irish Sea, and recorded at 7.55am on Sunday, November 2, at a depth of 17km.
Northwest Wales is known for its high seismic activity; in July, a smaller 0.2-magnitude tremor was detected 9.9 miles (16km) north east of Amlwch, north Anglesey. The following month, a more significant 1.6 magnitude event hit the Gwynedd village of Llwyndyrus on the Llŷn Peninsula.
The BGS reported no on-land impacts from the most recent quake.
In September, a 0.7 tremor was noted in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park at Llangyndir. Powys has been particularly active this year with at least six tremors recorded in the county over the past three months, according to the DailyPost, reports the Mirror.
(Image: Getty Images)
A 3.3 magnitude earthquake was felt in parts of Perth and Kinross in Scotland in late October. The British Geological Survey stated that the quake began at 7.25am, with the epicentre in Pubil in the Glen Lyon region.
The Volcano Discovery website, which also tracks earthquakes, had received dozens of reports from locals and visitors who were in the area at the time.
For decades, boffins have been probing potential connections between solar activity and seismic events. This week a string of solar flares sparked two geomagnetic storms above Earth, with the second feeding off the first to unleash a colossal “cannibal storm”.
It ranked amongst the most powerful solar storms witnessed in the last 20 years.
There’s been speculation that geomagnetic storms ramp up pressure on Earth’s magnetosphere, causing surface compression that might set off earthquakes along tectonic plate boundaries.
A direct connection remains unproven, but researchers are optimistic that analysing solar activity could help forecast when earthquakes may strike.
A 2022 Japanese investigation discovered a potential causal relationship between sunspot activity and seismic patterns.
A subsequent study released this year indicated that solar heating of Earth’s surface might influence rock characteristics and subterranean water flow, potentially playing a minor part in earthquake activity.
Whilst this would be nowhere near the main driver of seismic events, there’s hope that weaving solar activity data into Earth temperature models could enhance the precision of future earthquake predictions.
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