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Earthquake hits northern England - Telegraph
Earthquake hits northern England
By Nick Collins 10:15PM GMT 03 Jan 2011
An earthquake hit homes across the north of England on Monday night, weeks after a similar tremor in Cumbria.
Residents described how the floor shook, objects fell from tables and door frames rattled as the earthquake struck at 9.02pm.
The British Geological Survey said the local magnitude – the term seismologists prefer to the Richter scale – measured about 3.6.
The tremor had its epicentre just west of Ripon, North Yorkshire, but was also felt in West Yorkshire and more than 50 miles away in Cumbria.
David Todd, 59, was sitting in the living room of his home in Ripon when he felt the tremor.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “The whole street shook. There was one big shake that lasted a few seconds, followed by a smaller one that lasted a second or so.
“I was sitting in my chair and it was as if someone had suddenly thumped the back of it. Some books that were on my table fell to the floor.
“I went out into the street and all my neighbours were outside asking: ‘Did your house just shake?’
“Because it is a military town we thought it may have been an explosion going off.”
Mike Long, who is also from Ripon, told Sky News: "It was a bit scary to be honest. The whole house actually shook, it was enough to make you jump off the couch and wonder what was going on."
Cumbria resident Richard Lambert said he initially thought the earthquake was a helicopter passing overhead.
He told Sky News: "I was just sat down on the sofa and I could hear a loud rumbling coming from outside.
"I thought it was a Chinook helicopter, it sort of got louder and louder, I could hear the glasses in the kitchen rattling and the rumbling coming from outside."
It came after an earthquake of local magnitude 3.5 occurred in Coniston, Cumbria on the evening of December 21.
Experts said the tremor was “fairly small” by global standards.
Dr Aoife O'Mongain from the BGS said the epicentre of the quake was 10 kilometres west of Ripon with a depth of six kilometres.
She added: "It would have only lasted for a couple of seconds.
"And at that strength it is not likely that it would have caused any damage.
"People living in the vicinity may have felt their windows rattling as if a lorry was going past."
The most severe earthquake in Britain in recent years was a tremor in Lincolnshire in 2008, which had a local magnitude of 5.2.
North Yorkshire fire brigade said it had received a handful of calls about the earthquake but had not had to attend any incidents.
Earthquake hits northern England
By Nick Collins 10:15PM GMT 03 Jan 2011
An earthquake hit homes across the north of England on Monday night, weeks after a similar tremor in Cumbria.
Residents described how the floor shook, objects fell from tables and door frames rattled as the earthquake struck at 9.02pm.
The British Geological Survey said the local magnitude – the term seismologists prefer to the Richter scale – measured about 3.6.
The tremor had its epicentre just west of Ripon, North Yorkshire, but was also felt in West Yorkshire and more than 50 miles away in Cumbria.
David Todd, 59, was sitting in the living room of his home in Ripon when he felt the tremor.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “The whole street shook. There was one big shake that lasted a few seconds, followed by a smaller one that lasted a second or so.
“I was sitting in my chair and it was as if someone had suddenly thumped the back of it. Some books that were on my table fell to the floor.
“I went out into the street and all my neighbours were outside asking: ‘Did your house just shake?’
“Because it is a military town we thought it may have been an explosion going off.”
Mike Long, who is also from Ripon, told Sky News: "It was a bit scary to be honest. The whole house actually shook, it was enough to make you jump off the couch and wonder what was going on."
Cumbria resident Richard Lambert said he initially thought the earthquake was a helicopter passing overhead.
He told Sky News: "I was just sat down on the sofa and I could hear a loud rumbling coming from outside.
"I thought it was a Chinook helicopter, it sort of got louder and louder, I could hear the glasses in the kitchen rattling and the rumbling coming from outside."
It came after an earthquake of local magnitude 3.5 occurred in Coniston, Cumbria on the evening of December 21.
Experts said the tremor was “fairly small” by global standards.
Dr Aoife O'Mongain from the BGS said the epicentre of the quake was 10 kilometres west of Ripon with a depth of six kilometres.
She added: "It would have only lasted for a couple of seconds.
"And at that strength it is not likely that it would have caused any damage.
"People living in the vicinity may have felt their windows rattling as if a lorry was going past."
The most severe earthquake in Britain in recent years was a tremor in Lincolnshire in 2008, which had a local magnitude of 5.2.
North Yorkshire fire brigade said it had received a handful of calls about the earthquake but had not had to attend any incidents.
