UK Earthquakes 2026: How Often and How Big

A small stone hut on a grassy hill among trees, used to house earthquake instruments — The Earthquake House at Comrie, Perthshire, a small observatory built in the 19th century to record the area’s frequent tremors. Photo: Rosser1954 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Frequent but smallUpdated 4 October 2026

Trend summary

The UK has earthquakes almost every day. Almost none of them do any harm.
The British Geological Survey detected 327 earthquakes in and around the UK in 2025, up from 275 in 2024. Twelve reached magnitude 3 and 25 were felt by people.
The largest onshore quake of 2025 was a magnitude 3.7 near Pubil, Perth and Kinross, on 20 October.
The biggest UK quake of the last 20 years was the magnitude 5.2 Market Rasen earthquake in Lincolnshire on 27 February 2008.

327earthquakes detected in and around the UK, 2025

25felt by people, 2025

M3.7largest onshore quake of 2025 (Pubil, 20 Oct)

M5.2Market Rasen, 2008: the largest of the 20 years

What the numbers show

BGS publishes an annual bulletin covering the UK and its surrounding seas. In 2025 it located 327 events: 37 of magnitude 2 or more, 12 of magnitude 3 or more, and 25 felt. Counts move with local swarms rather than a clear trend. 2016 was the quietest year in the 47-year series, with 205 events, while 2019 peaked at 454, including about 135 small tremors linked to fracking near Blackpool.

BGS’s year-end release said the UK experienced an earthquake almost once a day in 2025, and the public sent in 1,320 felt reports.

What is driving it

Most UK earthquakes are natural, caused by slow stresses in old faults. But people add to the count. A peer-reviewed study (Wilson et al., 2015) found that at least about 21% of onshore UK quakes of magnitude 1.5 or more between 1970 and 2012 were caused by human activity, mostly coal mining. Fracking at Preston New Road produced a magnitude 2.9 tremor in August 2019, and the government ended support for fracking in England that November. Research based on that site (Schultz, Baptie et al., 2023) suggests that nuisance and damage, not injury, set the limits of what people will tolerate.

Recent cases

18 September 2026: a magnitude 3.3 quake in the southern North Sea, 25 km north-east of Skegness, is felt on the Lincolnshire coast (BGS).
3 December 2025: a magnitude 3.2 quake at Silverdale, Lancashire, draws 634 felt reports from Morecambe, Kendal and Lancaster (BGS).
20 October 2025: two quakes of magnitude 3.7 and 3.6, hours apart near Pubil in Glen Lyon, are felt up to about 60 km away (BGS).

Press releases and official reports, 2023–2026

Up to five key releases a year for the last four years, newest first. Most come from UK government departments, regulators, accident investigators and national statistics; a few news reports are included where they are the clearest public record of an event. Releases from 2007–2022 are in the expandable list after 2023.

View 20 years of major UK earthquake reports (2007–2026)76 more from 2007–2022, up to five a year, newest first

2022

22 Sep 2022BEISUK government takes next steps to boost domestic energy production
22 Sep 2022BGSRecent scientific advances in the understanding of induced seismicity from hydraulic fracturing of shales
5 Apr 2022BEISScientific review of shale gas launched
15 Mar 2022BEISGovernment plans for fracking: response to an urgent question
2022BGSThe British Geological Survey Earthquake Bulletin for 2021

2021

21 Oct 2021Environment AgencyLow carbon subsurface technologies: identifying potential environmental impacts
2021BGSThe British Geological Survey Earthquake Bulletin for 2020
2021BGSEarthquake Seismology 2020/2021
2021BGSPotential risks of induced seismicity from high volume hydraulic fracturing of shales in Northern Ireland

2020

28 Apr 2020BGSSeismic Magnitudes, Corner Frequencies, and Microseismicity: Using Ambient Noise to Correct for High-Frequency Attenuation
31 Mar 2020House of Commons LibraryShale gas and fracking
2020BGSEarthquake Seismology 2019/2020
2020BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2019

2019

2 Nov 2019BEISGovernment ends support for fracking
22 Oct 2019Environment AgencyGuidance on seismic cluster definition and identification
15 Aug 2019BEISGovernment sets out position on shale gas exploration
14 Feb 2019Environment Agency12. Sub-surface information for hydraulic fracturing
2019BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2018

2018

19 Dec 2018Radioactive Waste ManagementSite Evaluation – How we will evaluate sites in England
24 Jul 2018BEISDecision announced on the Hydraulic Fracturing Consent application by Cuadrilla Bowland Ltd
17 Feb 2018BGSCWMLLYNFELL
2018BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2017
2018BGSEarthquake seismology 2017/2018

2017

10 Oct 2017Environment AgencyEnvironment Agency approves Third Energy's hydraulic fracture plan
4 Aug 2017BGSMOIDART
2017BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2016
2017BGSUK Earthquake Monitoring 2013/2014
2017BGSUK Earthquake Monitoring 2012/2013

2016

28 Sep 2016Environment AgencyPublic invited to meet the regulators of oil and gas industry
25 May 2016DECCGovernment's vision for shale gas in securing home grown energy supplies for the UK
11 Apr 2016Environment AgencyThird Energy is granted fracking permits for a site in North Yorkshire
2016BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2015
2016BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2014

2015

Dec 2015Durham UniversityAnthropogenic earthquakes in the UK: A national baseline prior to shale exploitation
16 Jul 2015DECCGovernment defines Protected Areas for shale developments
14 Jun 2015DECCDECC responds to recent coverage on shale regulation
22 May 2015BGSRAMSGATE
16 Jan 2015Environment AgencyEnvironment Agency grants shale gas permit for Preston New Road

2014

28 Jul 2014DECCNew onshore licensing round opens
11 Jul 2014BGSJERSEY
24 Apr 2014DECCGuidance on the preparation of an environmental risk assessment of shale gas operations in Great Britain involving the use of hydraulic fracturing
20 Feb 2014BGSBRISTOL CHANNEL
2014BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2013

2013

9 Sep 2013DECCTraffic light monitoring system (shale gas and fracking)
18 Jul 2013DECCUK onshore production: Michael Fallon
15 May 2013DECCRobust regulation in place to accelerate shale development, says Energy Minister
Mar 2013BGSSeismic hazard
2013BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2012

2012

13 Dec 2012DECCNew controls announced for shale gas exploration
17 Apr 2012DECCComments sought on recommendations from independent experts on shale gas and fracking
Feb 2012BGSIslay Earthquakes February 2012
2012BGSUK Earthquake Monitoring 2011/2012
2012BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2011

2011

2 Nov 2011DECCCuadrilla's geomechanical study on Shale Gas: Statement by Charles Hendry
14 Jul 2011BGSEnglish Channel earthquake | Magnitude 3.9 | 14 July 2011
27 May 2011BGSBlackpool earthquake | Magnitude 1.5 | 27 May 2011
1 Apr 2011BGSBlackpool earthquake | Magnitude 2.3 | 1 April 2011
3 Jan 2011BGSRipon, North Yorkshire earthquake | Magnitude 3.6 | 3 Jan 2011

2010

2009

18 Nov 2009BGSThe relationship between seismic local magnitude ML and charge weight for UK explosions
2009BGSUK Earthquake Monitoring 2008/2009
2009BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2008

2008

27 Feb 2008BGSMARKET RASEN,LINCS
2008BGSTwo notable earthquakes in 2008
2008BGSUK earthquake monitoring 2007/2008
2008BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2007
2008BGSObservations from the Folkestone, UK, earthquake of 28 April 2007

2007

28 Apr 2007BGSFOLKESTONE,KENT
2007BGSKent rocked
2007BGSUK Earthquake Monitoring 2006/2007
2007BGSBulletin of British Earthquakes 2006
2007BGSAn improved UK local magnitude scale from analysis of shear and lg-wave amplitudes

Some early years list fewer than five items. Many UK government releases from that period are no longer online at their original addresses, and we only list items we could open and check.

Photo list

Small stone hut with a pitched roof on a grassy slope — The Earthquake House at Comrie, seen from the approach path. Photo: Rosser1954 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

A paper seismogram covered in dense wavy lines — File photo: a seismogram of a distant earthquake (the 2011 Tōhoku quake, recorded in Hawaii). Photo: Joe Parks via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases linked above; where agencies publish provisional numbers we say so, because they are revised. UK statistics are often published separately for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so we say which area each figure covers. Photos are public-domain, Creative Commons or Open Government Licence images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.