Two earthquakes were recorded in Wales on Wednesday. The British Geological Survey – which supplies geoscience data, monitoring and guidance – released details of two minor tremors in Powys and Gwynedd.
The first struck at Llangynidr, near Crickhowell, in Powys in the early hours of August 12. The quake registered 1.1 on the Richter scale at a depth of 6km, and was recorded at 3.22am.
A second earthquake was detected during the afternoon near Bontddu on the northern banks of the Mawddach Estuary in Gwynedd, reports North Wales Live.
This was slightly more powerful at 1.3 on the Richter scale and at a depth of 8km, recorded at 1.30pm. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here.
Bontddu is just east of Barmouth in Gwynedd
It remains unclear whether either tremor was felt locally. Experts say most quakes measuring below 2.5 on the scale go unnoticed but are picked up by seismographs.
Locations and magnitudes may be subject to change as events are re-examined and revised. The British Geological Survey (BGS) documents approximately 300-400 earthquakes each year across Britain.
An earthquake struck an area of Powys at 3.22am
Wales, along with the remainder of the UK, sits upon the European plate, where pressure accumulates as it is gradually pushed north-eastwards from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This pressure is discharged through movement along existing fault lines, triggering an earthquake.
The Menai Strait area remains the most seismically active region in Wales and amongst the most active anywhere in the UK. The magnitude 5.4 earthquake of 1984 was the most powerful onshore seismic event to strike the UK in more than a century.
Its epicentre was situated along the northern coastline of the Llŷn Peninsula, originating at a depth of around 22 km beneath the earth’s crust.