2010 County Clare earthquake

On 6 May 2010 a 2.7 ML earthquake was felt in County Clare, Ireland and lasted 10 seconds. There was no damage or injuries due to the small magnitude. The British Geological Survey detected the earthquake at 22:24 UTC. This is the first earthquake recorded in Ireland's western region since records began in 1978, and there is no historical record of a tremor or earthquake in the west of Ireland. Most earthquakes that occur in Ireland are in the County Donegal area. Geologists from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) say the earthquake in Clare have forced them to re-evaluate the West of Ireland’s geology. The epicentre of the quake was located in the Lisdoonvarna area, according to their instruments. Tom Blake of the DIAS' School said: “It is the first time we've had seismic activity in that part of the country. The last two biggest earthquakes to hit Ireland were in Burnfoot in the Republic of Ireland and Belcoo in Northern Ireland. A magnitude 2.4 ML struck the area on 21 February 2008 two year before the quake in County Clare. People in the area felt the tremor and on 20 August 1994 a magnitude 2.2 ML struck Belcoo and also hit 17 years before the quake in County Clare.
January County Donegal earthquake swarm
A number of small earthquakes have occurred in January 2010 in the area of County Donegal which in the north of Ireland next to Northern Ireland. The part of County Donegal where the quakes happened was in the town of Bridgend where the earthquakes started on 7 January 2010 at 7:30 pm. It was a magnitude 1.6 ML. Two more earthquakes also occurred on 26 January at 8:47 pm, magnitude 1.5ML, and on 27 January at 7:51 am, magnitude 1.7ML. These were located near the village of Burnfoot. A number of local people felt the tremors.

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