A MINOR earthquake has shaken up the seaside town of Oban.

Locals reported feeling tremors that made some houses shake and hearing rumbling at 11pm last night.

The British Geological Society confirmed an earthquake measuring 1.9 on the Richter scale hit Oban at that time.

They recorded it at a depth of three kilometres.

It was the second earthquake in the Argyll and Bute town in the last week, with a 1.3 quake occurring on Sunday, 14 May. This was two kilometres below ground.

The earthquakes are not believed to have caused any damage.

Oban councillor Neil MacIntyre said: “It was really, really quite loud. The house rattled.

“I was watching TV at the time and we had grandchildren staying over and I thought one of them, or my wife, had fallen out of bed.

“These quakes are just a natural occurance, but make a great talking point in the town.

“We could maybe market it in tourism, telling people they can visit Oban to feel the earth move.

“Inverness has the monster, we have earthquakes.”

Meanwhile, another earthquake measuring magnitude 1.9 hit Loch Goil in Argyll and Bute at around 4pm on Wednesday.

The 1.9 magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of 9km, according to the Edinburgh based Geological Survey, which makes it one of the strongest earthquakes on the British mainland this year.

Other recent earthquakes around Scotland inlcude:

* A quake 200km east-south-east of Shetland recorded at 2.3 on the Richter scale on 15 May.

* A 1.2 quake at Foyers on 14 May.

* A 1.3 quake at Finnart, Perth and Kinross, on 9 May.

* A 0.9 quake at Lennoxtown, Dunbartonshire, on 9 May.