Earthquake

[Seagull Stew]

Yeah, I'm about 15 miles south of Cambridge. Am I now officially an "earthquake survivor"?

Ha, I guess you are. Although, where my in-laws live on the North Island of New Zealand, statistically they survived nearly 1000 earthquakes in the last year. Only a handful of them they knew anything about though!

 

[Djmiles]

Ha, I guess you are. Although, where my in-laws live on the North Island of New Zealand, statistically they survived nearly 1000 earthquakes in the last year. Only a handful of them they knew anything about though!

Heh that doesn't surprise me! When I went on a fieldtrip there last year, they took us to the exact spot where 2 major plates meet.....and there's a petrol station smack bang on it too

 

[Seagull Stew]

Heh that doesn't surprise me! When I went on a fieldtrip there last year, they took us to the exact spot where 2 major plates meet.....and there's a petrol station smack bang on it too

Where was that? Edgecumbe? Whakatane?

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

The British Geological survey says it was magnitude 5.3, making it the largest quakes felt in Britain for twenty years.

The epicentre was HERE, in the village of Holton cum Beckering, which interestingly was home to the actor Jim Broadbent in his youth.

The only injury was near Barnsley, where a chimney fell on a man's leg.

 

[Yorkie]

BBC NEWS | England | Earthquake hits much of England

The biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years has shaken homes across large parts of England.

People in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Manchester, the Midlands and Norfolk felt the tremor just before 0100 GMT.

An elderly man suffered leg injuries when a chimney collapsed in Wombwell in South Yorkshire, emergency crews said.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the earthquake was of the magnitude of 5.3 and the epicentre was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

Bev Finnegan, who lives in Market Rasen, said: "I was terrified to be honest. The noise was really, really terrifying... it was so deep and rumbling.

"It felt like the roof was going to fall in. There were people coming out in their dressing gowns wondering what it was. It was quite an experience."

A Lincolnshire police spokeswoman said the force had received dozens of calls from residents but there were no reports of anyone in the county being injured.

"There is slight structural damage, cracks and a couple of chimneys damaged. There's nothing serious at present.

"Mostly people were distressed by it so there were a large quantity of calls coming in."

Dr Brian Baptie of the BGS said: "An earthquake of this size, of magnitude five or thereabouts, will occur roughly every ten to 20 years in the UK," he said.


The BGS recorded an aftershock with a magnitude of 1.8 at about 0400 GMT.

The main 10-second quake, which struck at 0056 GMT at a depth of 15.4km (9.6 miles), was the biggest recorded example since one with a magnitude of 5.4 struck north Wales in 1984.


PREVIOUS QUAKES IN THE UK
April 2007 - Folkestone, Kent (magnitude 4.3)
December 2006 - Dumfries and Galloway (3.5)
September 2002 - Dudley, West Midlands (5.0)
October 2001 - Melton Mowbray (4.1)
September 2000 - Warwick (4.2)
April 1990 - Bishop's Castle, Shropshire (5.1)
July 1984 - Nefyn, north Wales (5.4)
June 1931 - in North Sea near Great Yarmouth (6.1)

Dr Baptie said: "The largest earthquake that we know about that has struck the UK was about 100km off the east coast of England on the Dogger Bank and it had a magnitude of 6.1.

"So we can get these kind of moderate to significant earthquakes of this size but they're relatively rare."

The West Midlands was hit by an earthquake in 2002 in the Dudley area that reached a magnitude of 5.0 and one measuring 4.3 hit Folkstone in Kent last year.

Thousands of people from across England contacted the BBC to described how their homes shook during the tremor.

Jemma Harrison, 22, in Bury, Greater Manchester, said: "It was really bad. I was fast asleep and woke up and the room was shaking and there was a loud bang and alarms were going off."

'Like a jelly mould'

Natasha Cavey, in Tipton in the West Midlands, said: "All my cupboard doors flew open and the whole house shook, it was unreal. I can't believe it."

David in Alrewas in Staffordshire said: "The birds were flying around like it was daylight.

"It was quite severe. I experienced the Dudley one and this was more severe.

"I went outside to see if the roof had collapsed. I could see the furniture in the room moving, it was like it was on a jelly mould."

David Somerset, 41, from Driffield near Beverley in East Yorkshire, said: "I have never felt one as strong as that one before. I was in my sitting room and the grandfather clock was rattling rather violently.

"It was very strong, I felt the whole room moving."

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

i didn't feel it in newcastle yorkie!

 

[Double Hard Bastard]

Woke me up here in West London! At first didn't really think much of it as still half a sleep untill I turned on the news this morning!

 

[jakarta]

I do remember the 1984 one as I was living in Mid-Cheshire so not far from epicentre -- was around 5 AM and the whole house shook like buggery.

Given in the early 80's the Cold War was coming to a head (anyone remember Threads on the BBC?) I honestly thought the Bomb had dropped for a few seconds.

So my whole life has been a bonus since then......

 

[clippedgull]

It wasn't an Earthquake you fools!

It was the heavy digging machinery moving into Falmer

 

[Dr Q]

Didn't feel a thing in Glaws (i.e. slept through it!), which is rather annoying as both me and the missus are geologists ... !

 

[clapham_gull]

I was reading this last night as I felt it.

Tried in vain (very tired) to find some news on the web, then just assumed that possibly my flat was on it's way to falling into the Victoria line below.

I understand there is a lot of clay under this bit of Clapham.

First thing my girlfriend said this morning was "you were right..", apparently I'd said "I'm f*cking tired, I've just felt the house moving".

 

[Gully]

Dr Q, it woke me up and I am probably not that far from where you are. In my dreamy state I can't say that it really occurred to me what was going on, despite the fact that I have been in earthquakes before, I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Amateurs! We had TWO out here on Valentine's Day, 6.7 and 6.1.

People just shrug, smile, stick their house back together and carry on.... And none of yer banner headlines in the Cretan Argos either.

 

[Dr Q]

Dr Q, it woke me up and I am probably not that far from where you are. In my dreamy state I can't say that it really occurred to me what was going on, despite the fact that I have been in earthquakes before, I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

Yeah, it seems I was one of the few at work not to have felt it, which is a surprise as I'm generally a light sleeper! I don't remember the dogs barking either, and they'll wake up at the sound of a sparrows fart!

 

[footychick]

I'm gutted, I was awake at 0.50 but I don't remember feeling/hearing anything.

 

[Djmiles]

Where was that? Edgecumbe? Whakatane?

Franz Josef - Well that's our volcanologist lecturer (always on TV) told us!

 

[strings]

Very loud bang in Wolverhampton - I thought someone was trying to kick in the front door and the missus thought that a car had crashed into the house next door.

I was surprised at the loudness of it all!

 

[house your seagull]

thought my house was colapsing in manchester, then i just decided it was heart palpitations, so pretty pleased to find out this morning it was the earth moving.

 

[RM-Taylor]

It started about 15 miles away from us, causing the house to shake and all car alarms to be sounded.

All this because Grimsby won last night and may be going to Wembley

 

[Mrs Coach]

Wow. Makes you feel a bit small in the scheme of things! S'like the earth is a dog, man, and we're the like, fleas or summat.

Far out!