A small earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 on the Richter scale, 110 kilometres west of Gozo, was barely felt in Malta on Sunday afternoon.

Very few people actually felt it, because it was small despite being larger than the usual ones which average a magnitude of three

It was recorded at around 4.01 p.m. local time by the Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit at the University of Malta.

A smaller aftershock, with a magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter scale, was recorded three hours later.

Pauline Galea, who heads the unit, said the quake took place in an area known for active movements.

Very few people actually felt it, she said, because it was “relatively small”, despite being larger than the usual ones which average a magnitude of three in this region.

“It was an isolated event,” Dr Galea said when asked whether more aftershocks were expected.

The last earthquake felt in Malta happened on April 24, Easter Sunday this year, with smaller quakes being felt over a four-day period when a total of 16 shocks were recorded.

The quakes were located about 34km east of the country and their magnitudes ranged from 2.5 to 4.1.

The largest event in the sequence, with a magnitude of 4.1 on the Richter scale, occurred at 3.02 p.m., when people’s Easter lunch was disturbed by rattling windows and shaking doors.