'Rumbling noise' as earthquake shakes Scottish homes

A 2.9 magnitude earthquake was felt and heard across several regions on the west coast of Scotland.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded the tremor about 8.45pm on Sunday.

A general view of Oban in Scotland | PA

The epicentre was in Kinloch, about 19 miles north west of Oban.

Reports about the earthquake were sent to BGS from people mostly within a 25-mile radius of the epicentre.

The quake was felt in Strontian and across to the island of Mull, Oban and surrounding villages, but was not powerful enough to cause damage.

Mary MacPhail, who runs a bed-and-breakfast near Strontian, told BBC Scotland she was having Sunday dinner when she heard a "rumbling noise" through triple glazed windows.

"I initially thought it was maybe a plane going over," she said. "We do get low flying planes sometimes.

"The house didn't shake, it was just a noise - a very loud rumbling."

BGS detects about 300 quakes every year in the UK.

The recent Kinloch tremor had the strongest magnitude out of the earthquakes felt in Britain in the past two months.

BGS said the North Sea earthquake of June 7, 1931, with a magnitude of 6.1ML and with an epicentre offshore in the Dogger Bank area - 75 miles north east of Great Yarmouth - is the largest known earthquake in the UK.