A SMALL EARTHQUAKE was recorded off the coast of Co Donegal in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The county is a hotbed of seismic activity and occasionally records smaller quakes even though most people rarely notice the tremors.

The latest quake happened at approximately 1.18am yesterday morning on the coast of Culdaff Bay off the Inishowen Peninsula.

The earthquake was measured at 0.9 on the Richter scale.

Seismometer equipment at St Columba’s College in Stranorlar recorded the activity.

Physics teacher Brendan O’Donoghue oversees the project which is part of the worldwide Seismology in Schools project.

The school is one of the most successful in the network and has tracked more than 1,000 tremors since it joined the scheme almost 15 years ago.

The Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and the British Geology Survey’s Seismology team recorded the latest event.

The largest onshore Irish earthquake recorded by the Irish National Seismic Network was M2.5 which occurred on the 26 January, 2012 on the Fanad Peninsula in Donegal.