It was the night the earth moved in Norfolk but you would be forgiven if this seismic event passed you by.The earthquake that hit between the villages of Little and Great Massingham, near Fakenham, was so slight it caused barely a ripple in pints being supped at the local pub.

It was the night the earth moved in Norfolk but you would be forgiven if this seismic event passed you by.

The earthquake that hit between the villages of Little and Great Massingham, near Fakenham, was so slight it caused barely a ripple in pints being supped at the local pub.

The tremor measuring 1.4 on the Richter scale struck nearly eight kilometres beneath the earth's surface at 10.30pm on Wednesday.

It was just one of about 250 underground murmurs in the UK each year - paling in comparison to the 9.1 earthquake that triggered the Indonesian tsunami in 2004.

In Great Massingham, people were more concerned about village politics than the ground opening up and swallowing them.

“There are several things that shake us up round here but earthquakes are not one of them,” said Olav Brun, vice-chairman of Great Massingham Parish Council.

“No one has said a thing about it and as far as I am aware no buildings have collapsed or fissures opened up.”

Drinkers might be used to the ground moving beneath their feet but at The Dabbling Duck in Great Massingham the seismic event also passed them by.

“I did not feel a thing and nobody in here has said a thing about it,” said barmaid Maddie Heley.

British Geological Society seismologist David Galloway said: “Most of the earthquakes we record in the UK go unnoticed and East Anglia generally has very few quakes.”

He said the worst in the region was a 4.3 tremor which lasted up to a minute in Norwich in 1994.

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bgs.ac.uk