HOGMANAY WENT with a bang quite literally for residents of one Perthshire village after it was hit by an earthquake.

Measuring 2.5 on the Richter Scale, the quake made houses shake and startled revellers in Blackford, south of Perth, just hours before the bells.

It was the latest in a series caused by the fault line which runs through Strath-earn, according to experts.

Norman Gee, the sub-postmaster in Blackford, said his wife Irene and his son were disturbed by it as they prepared for Hogmanay festivities.

He said, “I wasn’t there but she described it to me as a big bang. My son said the same—he said there was a bang and it was followed by the whole house moving.

“There was nothing falling off the shelves or anything like that but it was quite a surprise.

“Some of the houses in the village are on soft foundations and when a big lorry goes by they shake a bit and it was like that.

“We’ve only been here since April and haven’t experienced one before then but apparently they are quite common.”

Another resident said the noise was “like thunder” or a big lorry passing, followed by the tremor.

Although between 300 and 400 quakes happen in Britain each year, only around 10% are actually felt, according to the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh. Strathearn is a quake hotspot, with around one tremor measuring over strength 2 on the Richter Scale each year because of its geological position on the Highland Boundary Fault.

A smaller one, 1.2 on the scale, was experienced in nearby Glendevon on December 29.