ANOTHER ONE!
Leighton Buzzard UK earthquake – FOURTH tremor in two weeks hits Bedfordshire just hours after quake rattles homes
A FOURTH tremor in just two weeks has hit Leighton Buzzard today as the earthquake rattled homes.
Residents of the Bedfordshire town were hit by a three magnitude tremor this morning, before a 2.1 magnitude quake struck this afternoon.
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The British Geological Survey said this morning's quake hit just north of Leighton Buzzard.
This afternoon's tremor struck at 12.39 and had a depth of 7km.
Today's quakes come after others hit the town on September 13 and September 8.
One resident tweeted this morning: "Small tremor in Leighton Buzzard this morning - third earthquake in as many weeks."
Others joked about the quakes, speculating as to what caused them.
One person said: "Three earthquakes in Leighton Buzzard in two weeks and I'm fully believing a Bond-type villain is building their new secret lair under the town."
Another said residents were "all fine - just very confused".
One tweeted a picture of Homer Simpson wearing a sign reading "The end is near".
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David Galloway from the British Geological Survey told The Sun Online that the tremors were a "swarm event".
He said "The movement of the planet creates stress in rocks all over the world, in this case it just happens to be in Leighton Buzzard.
"Because all the energy hasn't been released from the stress in the rocks in one go it happens in a swarm."
Mr Galloway said there may be more tremors in Leighton Buzzard as "swarm event" quakes are impossible to predict.
He said "swarm events" had happened in the UK in the past and "weren't uncommon".
After last week's quake, the BGS tweeted: "There have been a small number of reports received from members of the public indicating they felt this earthquake, which is in the same area as the 8 September 3.5 quake.
"One report describes 'It felt slower and less intense than the previous tremor'."
What is a 'earthquake swarm'?
Earthquake swarms happen when many quakes hit the same area in a short space of time.
They are different from aftershocks as there is no "main" earthquake.
The number of tremors in a swarm cannot be predicted.
The earthquake had a depth of 10km, and the epicentre was 3km south-west of Leighton Buzzard.
Residents took to social media after feeling last week's tremor.
"Another earthquake in Leighton Buzzard just now. What on Earth is going on?" one person said.
Another tweeted: "What is going on? Just woken by another earthquake in Leighton Buzzard."
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A British Geological Survey spokesman said: "The most recent event was over 100 times smaller than the event on September 8 in the same area."
Dramatic video footage showed the first tremor on September 8 hitting a home, causing two dogs to jump.
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The pet owner uploaded the footage to Twitter and wrote: "Actually thought my house was falling down."
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UK earthquake - Moment 3.9m tremor hits Leighton Buzzard as houses across three counties 'shake' and dogs spooked
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