Largest quake in two decades hits England

[Chacor]

The biggest earthquake for nearly 20 years has been felt across large parts of England.

People from as far afield as London, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, East Anglia and Yorkshire felt the tremor.

It struck at about 0100 GMT and lasted for nearly 10 seconds but it is unclear if it has caused any damage.

The British Geological Survey said it believed the quake was of the magnitude of 5.1 and said the epicentre was close to Grimsby in north-east Lincolnshire.

A spokesman said it was the biggest earthquake to hit England since 1990 and could be of a level to cause minor damage to buildings.

The West Midlands was hit by an earthquake in 2002 in the Dudley area that reached a magnitude of 5.0 and caused damage to homes.

And last year an earthquake measuring 4.3 hit Folkstone in Kent, causing widespread damage.

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."

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 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."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7266136.stm

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake! That's not something you think of as happening in Britain.

BBC readers' accounts

[RL3AO]

5.1? Yawn.

EDIT: USGS has it as a 4.7

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008nyae.php

[Chacor]

Given it hit England, I'd trust the British estimate more. Nothing to yawn about, especially since they're not exactly earthquake-prone.

[RL3AO]

Nothing to yawn about, especially since they're not exactly earthquake-prone.

Hence the winking thing.

[Cyclenall]

I saw it reported on another forum. This is quite something, a lot of earthquakes are happening around the world right now.

[lurkey]

hmm. .. first Norway, now England. .

[Cryomaniac]

I felt this. It felt quite cool really, once I knew what it was.

[feederband]

I tell you what ...I didn't know how much the world shook untill I got on that USGS email list...My email always has a few everyday....

[Chacor]

Some pictures of damage:


Caption: Student David Bates was taken to hospital with a broken pelvis after a chimney collapsed into his bedroom in Wombwell, South Yorkshire.


Caption: One of the pieces of masonry which crashed into the 19-year-old's bedroom in Wombwell.

Ouch. Can you imagine being hit by that?

[P.K.]

Slept through this but someone further to my south said he felt it. At a 5.2 (According to the BGS on the radio this morning) it was stronger than the 5.0 I felt here from the Birmingham area in 2002.

See http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/recent_events/uk_special/market_rasen_27_feb_2008.pdf for a map of the location.

[Dionne]

5.1? Yawn.

EDIT: USGS has it as a 4.7

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008nyae.php

There are always revisions in magnitude after earthquakes. I get the same USGS notices and revisions. 4.7 versus 5.1 has an equivalent energy factor of 400. The magnitude scale is a logarithm. I have found the numbers can be misleading. A long duration 4.7 will make you run for the door. I was in the '64 Alaska earthquake....which was first an 8.6 and later revised to 9.2. It's duration was 5 1/2 minutes.

I agree that there are regions that go through periods of activity. In Alaska we used to watch what is known as the "ring of fire" or the Pacific Ocean rim of volcanoes. When the volcanoes become active, we knew temblors could possibly happen.

[Stephanie]

I guess that they can hit anywhere, but this is the first time I knew about a quake in England.

[wyq614]

That's the first time I've ever heard of an earthquake in England.

[Cryomaniac]

That's the first time I've ever heard of an earthquake in England.

They happen reasonably often, there was a slightly smaller one in 2002.

[G.B.]

I have a book written by Peter Haining titled "The Great English Earthquake" published 1976 by Robert Hale Limited ISBN 0-7090-4391-0.

This book describes an almost forgotten earthquake in England which took placed on April 22nd 1884 with the epicentre in Colchester, Essex. At the time no instrumental recordings were taken but it apparently caused widespread destruction and was felt throughout the country.

It was obviously noteworthy otherwise an entire book would not be dedicated to it.

The author mentions that the day he finished writing the book on January 1st 1975 a mild earthquake was felt on the south coast of England.

Another earthquake took place on April 2nd 1990 measuring 5.2 with the epicentre in North Wales and was felt in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Bristol and Exeter.

He goes on to state that the last 10 years (as of 1975) no less than 60 earthquakes measuring more the 2.5 had been registered in England, by the British Geological Survey.

[Stephanie]

Very interesting G.B.!

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Yikes. That would definitely have scared me especially for a place that doesn't
get them often.

[MiamiensisWx]

Yikes. That would definitely have scared me especially for a place that doesn't
get them often.

They're more frequent than most people realize, but they're typically minor and deep-rooted events that are not felt at the surface. A similar setup occurs near the Great Lakes.