Another earthquake has hit a fracking site in Lancashire – this time reaching levels where operations must be stopped.

It is the 17th earthquake in 9 days and has officially been classed as a ‘red event.’

The latest – and biggest – tremor happened this morning on land where energy firm Cuadrilla is drilling for shale gas.

Campaigners are calling for an end to fracking after the latest quake in Lancashire (Picture: Getty)

M 0.8 "red" event recorded at the hydraulic fracturing site in Lancashire, UK by the BGS and confirmed by the operator, Cuadrilla. Regulations mean that injection operations must be paused for at least 18 hours – i.e. probably until Monday.https://t.co/MHey0chBaN — Stephen Hicks (@seismo_steve) October 26, 2018

The seismic event, measured 0.8 on the Richer Scale, and was detected on the grounds of their Preston New Road site.


Earlier this week, the group voluntarily stopped drilling after a 0.4 event was detected.

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However regulations mean that injection operations must be paused for at least 18 hours although the firm plan to start again tomorrow.



Campaigners, who lost a High Court bid to stop fracking, have demanded the firm stop following the latest set of quakes.

The Cuadrilla fracking site in Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, Lancashire where operations started again last week (Picture: PA)

Rose Dickinson, Friends of the Earth campaigner, said: ‘Fracking only started 11 days ago. In that time there have been 17 earthquakes, including one today that has reached a red warning level – which means work at the site has to stop.

‘This is obviously deeply concerning for those living nearby and why the industry must be closely monitored.

‘We’ve known all along that fracking poses risks to our environment and our climate. When is the government going to realise that fracking is the wrong choice for Lancashire, the UK and our global climate?’

In 2011, fracking was halted for seven years after experts said two Lancashire tremors – one registering 2.3 magnitude – were caused by shale gas test drilling.

Anti-fracking demonstrators failed in a last minute legal challenge to stop fracking starting again (Picture: Getty)

The Government has been pro-fracking despite concerns over climate change. Local residents are concerned about contamination of their water (Picture: PA) When Theresa May came to power, she announced householders living near shale wells would enjoy a ‘frackpot’ payout of up to £10,000 each. However the UN’s Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change launched a new report earlier this month bringing forward the dangerous limits of climate change and calling on world leaders to take immediate action to bring global warming under control by 2040. The extensive list of measures required includes a diverse energy mix of 85 per cent renewables and practically no coal, oil or gas. Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.