Geology experts have revealed what caused a 2.4 magnitude earthquake off the Donegal coast on Sunday night.
Locals in Kilcar, Ardara and Ballyshannon all reported feeling the earth move and the quake was recorded at six seismic stations in Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Wexford, Dublin and Louth.
Spokesperson for Geological Survey Ireland (GSI), Dr Siobhan Power told The Irish Daily Mirror: "A magnitude 2.4 earthquake occurred in Donegal Bay late on Sunday April 7, 2019.
"The earthquake was confirmed by the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS)."
They went on to explain that earthquake events "are not uncommon in the region" due to a number fault lines in the area.
Donegal residents feel tremors as county hit by 2.4 magnitude earthquake last night
A fault line is a crack in the surface of the earth.
According to Geological Survey Ireland, when tectonic plates are colliding or trying to slide past each other there is a build-up of pressure between the two plates in the Earth’s crust along fault lines.
This pressure is then suddenly released when the plates move at the fault line and cause a violent shaking of the earth’s surface in the form of an earthquake.
Earthquakes are measured on the Richter scale, ranging from 1 to 12. The higher the number, the more powerful the earthquake will be.
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However, Ireland does not experience large quakes as we are not situated near plate boundaries.
Dr Power said: "Ireland has a long and exciting geological history and has faults preserved from the various periods of tectonic activity it has been through.
"Donegal is cut by a series of NNE-WSW trending faults and it is thought the 2.4 magnitude earthquake happened along one of these faults.
"Energy built up in the Earth’s crust is released along pre-existing faults. Larger earthquakes occur at plate boundaries but the closest plate boundary to Donegal is the mid-Atlantic ridge."
