The southwest English county was shaken by the quake on Thursday evening.
One resident described hearing a “thunderous roar” before the quake.
“A distant thunderous roar approached before a single jolt struck, giving me an instant headache and making my hairs stand on end,” wrote one person on Twitter.
#earthquake #Somerset #SomersetEarthquake
This is the second earthquake I’ve experienced here in Langport.
As before, a distant thunderous roar approached before a single jolt struck, giving me an instant headache and making my hairs stand on end! (05.11.19, approx 22.45) 👀😊
— TWITCHCRAFT! (@Twitchcraft7) December 6, 2019
Others said it felt as though a truck had hit their house.
We just had an Earthquake here in Somerset..thought a lorry had hit our house !
— Nicky Shier-Skip Rat (@nickyshier) December 5, 2019
“Thought something had hit the side of the house, made the windows shake, quite scary!” said another.
The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometres and measured as a 3.4 on the Richter scale.
Earthquake felt in Taunton, Somerset tonight, thought something had hit the side of the house, made the windows shake, quite scary 😖#earthquake
— Dave Arthur (@flutter61) December 6, 2019
The United Kingdom occasionally has small tremors. The most recent “significant” quake was a 4.6 magnitude felt in Cwmllynfell in South Wales.
The strongest in the last 20 years was a 5.2 in Lincolnshire.