Minor earthquake strikes northern North Sea

M2.8, NORTH SEA, EAST OF WICK, SCOTLAND, 10:59AM BST.

Minor earthquake strikes northern North Sea, probably within oil-rich graben region.

This earthquake struck at 10:59 am in the North Sea, about 275 kilometres east of Wick, and 240 kilometres west of Stavenger, Norway. This was probably caused by a normal fault in the graben areas common in the northern North Sea, where extensive oil deposits are accessible.

These sorts of events are relatively common. The last one of size occurred in late July, east of the Humber estuary (M3.0, 27/7/14). They very rarely exceed magnitude 3, but some, such as the Dogger Bank Earthquake of 1931 can cause minor damage and exceed magnitude 6.