“LOUDEST bang I ever heard”; “Like a lorry hit the house”; “A tree had come down”; “The sofa had fallen through.” These were some of the responses by people who were near the epicentre of South Wales’ earth tremor last night.
A 3.7 magnitude tremor hit Gwent last night at 11.59pm.
The Argus went to Brynmawr and the surrounding villages to ask people what was it like living – a lot of them sleeping – through a bonafide earthquake.
George Heffaran and partner Karen run the Dragons Head in Llanganny, near to Crickhowell. According to the United States Geological Society, Llanganny was the true epicentre of the earthquake - more on that later.
First, Mr Heffaran, who has lived in the village for more than 30 years, explained what it was like in the tremor.
Screengrab of the siesmogram on the British Geological Survey website showing the earthquake with a magnitude of 3.7 that shook parts of Wales overnight
“We left the pub at about 11.15pm to our place across the river,” said Mr Heffaran. “It was unusual because our dog was in the bedroom and he never goes there, he is normally in his bed so he must have sensed something.
“We were laying in bed and it was more like it just exploded. It seemed like an echoey type of explosion, like a gas boiler blew up.
“I thought maybe a large tree had fallen, or a house had blown up in a gas explosion, so I got out of bed, took my torch and walked round the village making sure everyone was ok, but everyone else seemed to be asleep.”
There are around 230 people living in Llangerry, so it didn’t take too long for Mr Heffaran to check on his neighbours – after turning the boiler off just to be safe.
In neighbouring Gilwern, Andy Baker remained cool as a cucumber after finishing his shift and watching a bit of telly.
“I finished work just before midnight,” said Mr Baker, “watched a bit of telly and it sounded like a lorry had just hit the house. It shook the whole house.”
George Heffaran and partner Karen. George went and checked on villagers after the 3.7 magnitude tremor hit
Andy Baker with Willy and Frank, who said the tremor was quite the talking point
Llangenny where US Geological Society believe the epicentre was
Where was the epicentre of the South Wales earthquake?
Despite the British Geographical Societies’ announcement that Brynmawr was the epicentre of the tremor, amongst locals it’s still very much up for debate, with Facebook rife with theories, including that the village of Llangynidr was the epicentre.
The United States Geographical Society believed it was in fact Llangenny, eight miles from Brynmawr.
Watch as our intrepid reporter Harry Jamshidian goes to the epicentre of the earth tremor in South Wales
- 'Like an enormous thud': Man describes going through last night's earth "tremor"
- Was there an earthquake last night? South Wales hit by midnight tremor
Residents from around the area felt the tremor when it hit just before midnight, including in Blaenavon, where one person said their house shook and there was a big bang as a they lay on the sofa.
Another thought the bang was down to their sofa caving in...
In Tredegar, a resident said it was like a lorry drove into the house.
It's in dispute by residents where the tremor hit worst
Brynmawr is believed to be the epicentre of the tremor which lasted about 2 seconds
Llangenny is eight miles from Brynmawr, where the British Geological Society say the epicentre was
Back in LLangenny, Mr Heffaren’s dog sensed the tremor, however the rest of the village apparently slept through it.
Mr Heffaren shook his head in amazement sitting in the Dragons Head, asking, “How can you have an explosion like that and sleep through it?”
For Mr Baker in Gilwern (just six miles from Brynmawr), he said despite this being the third earthquake to hit the area in the last 30 years, the village will be talking about it for some time.
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