A small earthquake was recorded in the Gatwick area in the early hours of Saturday morning.  

The tremor has been recorded on the British Geological Survey website showing a magnitude of 2.5.  It follows a series of tremors in the area; four were recorded in February. The British Geological Survey has been studying the events in more detail.  It says the earthquake epicentres are tightly clustered in a small source zone between the villages of Newdigate and Charlwood.

Residents have raised concerns that the tremors may be the result of nearby gas and oil exploration.  However Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at Imperial College London, told the BBC that scientists are keeping an open mind. He said it is most likely that the earthquakes are natural, due to small tectonic stresses occurring in old geological faults caused by stresses from our nearest plate boundaries in the Mid-Atlantic and Mediterranean.  

The BGS has asked those who felt Saturday morning’s earthquake to fill out an online f06orm at  earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/questionnaire/EqQuestIntro.html