An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.0 struck Surrey overnight.

The tremor was felt at 3.42am in Newdigate, Surrey, less than 10 miles from Gatwick Airport, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).

The movement is the strongest of four tremors felt in Newdigate in the last fortnight and follows a “swarm” of earthquakes reported locally last summer.

The epicentre of the tremor is close to locations used for oil and gas exploration including the Horse Hill and Brockham Well sites.

Fracking activists and residents were quick to make the link between the earthquake epicentres and the close proximity of drilling operations.

Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Show all 30 1 /30 Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Residents and rescuers walk in front of a washed out passenger ferry in Wani following the September 28 earthquake and tsunami. Aid poured into disaster-ravaged Palu after days of delays as efforts ramped up to reach 200,000 people in desperate need AFP/Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Indonesian rescuers try to free a 15-year-old earthquake survivor, Nurul Istikhomah from the flooded ruins of a collapsed house in Palu EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue A rescue team searches for bodies under the ruin of a house in Balaroa EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue A ship stranded on the shore EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Indonesians stand among debris at Mamboro village in Palu EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Residents carry a victim AFP/Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Residents trying to salvage belongings from their homes which collapsed AFP/Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Indonesian soldiers bury quake victims in a mass grave in Poboya AFP/Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue A damaged mosque AFP/Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue A man sits on the rubble of a house AFP/Getty Images Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Rescuers walk past debris AFP/Getty Images Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Jumadil, 5, reacts at seeing his mother Susi Rahmatia, 26, after he went missing for seven days AFP/Getty Images Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue A woman builds a temporary toilet AFP/Getty Images Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Rahmat Raidi, 26, shows portraits of his missing family members AFP/Getty Images Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Residents queue before receiving humanitarian aid in Palu AFP/Getty Images Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Indonesian villagers offload aid from a military helicopter in Proo village, Lindu district AFP/Getty Images Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Residents stand among houses destroyed by a landslide that was triggered by the earthquake in Petobo outside Palu EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue People queue for fuel at a petrol station in Palu Reuters Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Members of the Indonesian Red Cross attend to a victim at a crushed house at Talise beach in Palu EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Residents walk among houses destroyed by a landslide that was triggered by the earthquake in Petobo, outside Palu EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue An Indonesian Police Officer uses a dog to search for victims amongst rubble in Petobo, outside Palu Reuters Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue An Indonesian rescue team searches for victims and survivors amongst the rubble of the Roa Roa hotel in Palu Reuters Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue A crowd gathers at the airport in Palu in the hope of fleeing by plane Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Members of an Indonesian rescue team look for survivors in a collapsed home in Palu AFP/Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Bhayangkara hospital in Palu Reuters Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Members of an Indonesian rescue team look for survivors in a collapsed home in Palu AFP/Getty Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue An earthquake damaged bridge in Palu Reuters Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue People drive amongst the damage in Palu Reuters Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Indonesian women stand on a tsunami devastated area of Talise beach Palu EPA Indonesian earthquake: rescue efforts continue Members of an Indonesian rescue team look for survivors in a collapsed home in Palu AFP/Getty

Frack Free Surrey said it was "time to reopen the inquiry into the link with drilling at Horse Hill".

"Never in a million years did I think I’d be experiencing such a big earthquake in Horley," wrote Surrey resident Adrienne Horne. "Oil drilling coincidence? Felt another last week."

However the BGS said it was unlikely that the tremor was linked to nearby oil and gas works, citing a report published last year that failed to conclude the recent spate of movements were man-made.

Dr Richard Luckett, a seismologist at the BGS, told The Independent: "By far and away the most likely explanation is that these are just a continuation of the tremors last year.

"Once you’ve had an earthquake on a fault line having more earthquakes on the same fault is very likely. It really is quite normal."

Surrey experienced its first tremor in 50 years last April, with four more recorded in as many months.

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Sensors were installed in the area after the 2018 quakes, which recorded the epicentres as tightly clustered in a roughly two mile by two mile zone between the villages of Newdigate and Charlwood.

Those tremors struck at a distance of approximately five miles from the Brockham oil field, but BGS said at the time they were "unlikely to have been induced".

Following a period of quiet the BGS recorded a 2.0 magnitude tremor on 19 February, and 2.4 and 0.2 quakes on 14 February.

Residents in the area were woken by Wednesday morning's incident.

James King, councillor for South Park and Woodhatch, tweeted at 3.43am: "Was that an earthquake in Reigate just now?"

Another Twitter user asked: "Was that an earthquake that just woke me up in Horley?"

Gatwick Airport in West Sussex confirmed they had felt the tremors overnight, but airport operations had not been affected.