2.1-magnitude earthquake hits town near Milton Keynes

The earthquake was recorded to have hit Leighton Buzzard at 11.20pm, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).

A BGS spokesperson said on Twitter: "There have been a small number of reports received from members of the public indicating they felt this earthquake, which is in the same area as the September 8, 3.5 quake. One report describes 'it felt slower and less intense than the previous tremor'."

This quake was also recorded by the BGS at level three on the European Microseismic Scale, which categorises the earthquake as 'weak' and that 'people at rest feel a swaying or light trembling'.

The incident comes just five days after the last one, which hit the same area.

It is likely this latest earthquake was an 'aftershock' of the initial quake.

The largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 in Chile on May 22, 1960.

It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. 100,000 of those can be felt, and 100 of them cause damage.