Earth tremor near Clyde Naval Base base at Faslane on the Gareloch
Rosneath Peninsula, site of the Clyde Naval Base and nuclear weapons at Coulport and Faslane. Pictures by Bill Heaney
BBC Scotland is reporting this morning that an earthquake with a magnitude tremor measuring 2.4 has hit Helensburgh, the Gareloch and the Rosneath peninsula.
Given that the Peninsula is home to to the Clyde Nuclear Submarine Base at Coulport and in the area of nuclear weapon stores, docks and jetties at Faslane and Glen Douglas, it will have caused a considerable scare amongst resident.
The tremor was recorded by the British Geological Survey’s seismometer at 23:34 on Thursday.
Residents said they felt a very loud rumble and felt some slight shaking, however, there were no reports of any damage to people or property.
The largest known earthquake in Scotland occurred near Loch Awe in 1880, with a magnitude of 5.2.
David Galloway, a local seismologist from the British Geological Survey, said: “We received 20 reports since last night of the earthquake.
“We monitor 100 seismometers around the United Kingdom, 24 hours a day.
“Anything above background noise is detected and we can determine whether it is a true earthquake or something else, such as a quarry blast.”
There are roughly 200-300 quakes in Britain every year, but the vast majority are so small that they are not noticed.
The Clyde Naval Base from the air and a nuclear submarine making its way past Rosneath to Faslane.