Blackpool was hit by an earthquake this morning. The 2.2 magnitude tremor did not cause any injuries but traffic lights were knocked over and a railway bridge cracked.
According to the British Geological Survey (BGS), the Blackpool earthquake struck at 3.30am.
Police received numerous reports from people who felt their houses shaking and the tremors were felt at the police station on Bonny Street, Blackpool.
A spokesman for Blackpool Police said: “We started to get calls at around 3.35am.
“Some may have thought it was an April Fool prank, but staff here felt the building move.
“We had a number of calls from residents. A woman in Grange Park rang up as she had been woken and thought her house was being broken into.
“Temporary traffic lights in Thornton Gate fell over while a man reported his motorbike had been knocked down.
“CCTV cameras on Lytham Road picked up superficial cracks on the road surface of the railway bridge near to the zebra crossing.”
Dave Thornton told the BBC he didn’t realise at the time that the tremors were an earthquake.
“All my wardrobe doors were rattling and I couldn’t work out what it was,” he said.
“I went to the window, but everything seemed normal. It was a relief to be honest to learn that it was a quake because at least I know there’s nothing wrong with my house.
Blackpool, on the Lancashire coast, last suffered a 5.2 magnitude earthquake in 2008 – UK’s biggest in 25 years.
