Coventry and Warwickshire has been hit by many earthquakes over the years.

The latest, the epicentre of which was in south Wales, was felt across the Midlands and beyond on Saturday, February 17.

The 4.7-magnitude quake was centred around Swansea, but was felt as far away as Cornwall on the south coast and Liverpool in the north-west.

A number of people across Coventry and Warwickshire contacted the Telegraph to say they felt the tremor, including in places such as Walsgrave, Binley and Tile Hill.

People up and down the country have reported buildings shaking with over 1,000 official reports being made.

West Midlands Fire Service have tweeted to say that while their control staff felt the earthquake, they haven't been called to any incidents.

The previous major quake to hit the region was in January 2015.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said received more than 200 reports of that earthquake - including some from the Nuneaton, Finham in Coventry, Tamworth and Loughborough areas.

Seismic data shows that the quake measured 3.8 on the Richter scale and was felt over 60 miles away from its epicentre 2.36 miles from Cottesmore, in Rutland.

The tremor was recorded shortly before 10.30pm and people across the Midlands posted on social media and reported buildings shaking for around 10 seconds.

Quakes in 2014 and 2008, in Oakham and Lincolnshire respectively, prompted scores of people to contact the BGS to say they had been woken by tremors in the early hours.

Other major quakes to hit the Midlands

May 1 1048

The first earthquake to strike the Midlands that was recorded contemporaneously was two decades before the Norman invasion in 1048. According to Symeon of Durham, an English Chronicler and monk of the Durham Priory, “a great earthquake occurred on Sunday, the Kalends of May, at Worcester, Wic, Derby and many other places.”

It is believed that Wic refers to Warwick and a report into the seismicity of the British Isles prior to 1600 by the British Geological Society suggests an epicentre somewhere in the Midlands and a magnitude of at least 4 on the Richter scale.

September 19 1508

This earthquake out in the North Sea was felt across England and Wales and recent studies suggest it could have measured as high as 7 on the Richer scale, the largest quake to have been felt by people living on the British Isles in modern human history.

June 27 1906

This earthquake, which measured 5.2 on the Richter scale, and had its epicentre near Swansea was the most destructive in the UK in the 20th century and was felt right across the Midlands and beyond.

According to reports, the earthquake caused panic in the southern Welsh city and a number of people were injured by falling masonry.

A death of a miner who died by falling rocks was originally attributed to the quake but it was later discovered that the two events were unrelated.

April 2 1990

One of the biggest Midlands earthquakes in living memory hit the western side of the region with the epicentre identified as Bishops Castle in Shropshire.

The quake - measured as 5.1 on the Richter scale - was felt as far afield as the Republic of Ireland in the west and Nottingham in the east with the market town of Shrewsbury worst affected where chimney pots were shaken off and thousands of homes were left without power for several hours.

September 23 2000

The first significant tremor of the Millennium struck the Midlands in September 2000 and measured 4.2 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the earthquake was Warwick and while it could be felt across the Midlands, there was no damage reported

The quake, which lasted just five seconds, happened at 5.23am and led to more than 50 calls to the local police.

A seismologist from the British Geological Survey, said at the time: “A tremor measuring 4.2 is small in world terms, but extremely large in British terms, and statistically we are looking at one quake of this size every three years in Britain.”

To give some perspective, this quake had around one hundred-thousandth of the force of a quake the year before in Turkey that measured 6.7 on the Richter scale that killed thousands and caused widespread devastation.

September 22 2002

An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale struck the whole West Midlands on the evening. This was the biggest quake in the Midlands since 1990 although there were no reports of damage.

The epicentre was just outside the centre of Dudley in the Black Country and the quake was felt over an area of 260,000 sqkm and was felt as far afield as Carlisle in the north of England and Truro in Cornwall.

Looking for an older story? Search our archives

Search for jobs, motors and property, or place an advert or family notice here