An earthquake measuring 3.1 magnitude was recorded in the North Sea yesterday – in an area where a platform was abandoned after a major gas leak.
It happened 155 miles east of Aberdeen at the Elgin-Franklin gas fields, which lie in the UK North Sea’s Central Graben.
Production on the Total Elgin platform – which sparked an evacuation of all 238 workers after gas started pouring from the installation – has only just restarted a year after the incident.
Yesterday’s quake was measured at a depth of 8.6 miles by the British Geological Survey at 10.43am. Seismologist David Galloway said on September 1 there was a 3.5 quake in the same area and a 3.9 one in June 2007. Both were felt – one by an accommodation vessel and another by a jack-up rig next to Franklin.
“This time we have had no reports of it being felt on the platforms but they are built to withstand such vibration,” he said.