Earthquake on Mull 'felt like car hit my house'

An earthquake that shook homes on the Isle of Mull felt like a car crashing into a building, the BBC has heard.

The 3.3 magnitude quake hit at 19:30 on Monday, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).

The tremor was felt across the Inner Hebridean island, on the mainland and the Isle of Coll.

Alasdair Satchel, who lives near the epicentre of the quake in the village of Dervaig - a few miles west of Tobermory in the north of the island - said he thought a car had hit his house.

BGS said movement was felt on Mull, on surrounding islands and on the mainland, mainly from within about 31 miles (50km) of the epicentre.

BGS said it received reports from residents from Mull and surrounding islands and many on the mainland, especially from the Morvern and Moidart peninsulas.

They said "the whole house creaked", "all the windows and doors rattled" and "the sofa seemed to vibrate".

Others told BGS they "thought someone had crashed into the house" and "it was like a large explosion nearby".

The geoscience organisation said other "smaller magnitude events" happened in same region before and after the Mull quake.

Mr Satchel told BBC Scotland he was sitting at his desk when he heard a "long, loud crashing noise".

"I thought 'what the heck is going on?'" he said. "My wife had just gone to take my father-in-law down the road to his house in the car and I thought she'd slid on the ice and hit the house.

He added: "We heard an aftershock as well.

"It was very bizarre. It's not the sort of thing you experience every day in Mull."

Some people shared their experience of the quake on social media.

Sea kayak adventurer Nick Ray posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it was "like a rumbling train in a tunnel" and lasting for a "good number of seconds".

Another person wrote: "We heard a weird bang and the glasses and plates in the dresser started rattling."

Earlier on Monday, a 2.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded at Moidart in the Highlands at around 14:24, while a 1.1 magnitude quake hit Morvern, also in the Highlands, at 13:10.

All three quakes were at a depth of 4.3 miles (7km).

A BGS spokesman said they were all connected.

He added: "The seismogram signals from each event are almost identical to each other."