Rare Quake Rattles Sleeping Britain

5.3-Magnitude Temblor Is Strongest To Hit U.K. Since 1984; Minor Damage, One Injury Reported

(CBS/AP)  The strongest earthquake to hit Britain in more than two decades was felt across large parts of the country early Wednesday, officials said. Some homes had minor damage and British media said one man had been hospitalized.

The British Geological Survey said the 5.3-magnitude quake struck at about 1 a.m. (8 p.m., Tuesday, Eastern) and was centered about 125 miles north of London.

According to reports on British news channels, a man from Lincolnshire was hospitalized with a broken pelvis after the quake brought his chimney crashing through his roof and onto his bed.

Julian Bukits of the British Geological Survey called it the most powerful quake in Britain since a 5.4 temblor hit North Wales in 1984.

"This was a very large earthquake in UK terms, but in world terms, average," Bukits told The Associated Press. "This one has been felt throughout the whole of England and southern Scotland."

Many people across the region - unaccustomed to such quakes - reported feeling their homes shaken.

"It was scary," David Somerset told The Associated Press by telephone from Driffield, around 60 miles from the epicenter. He was working on the computer at the time.

"It was a strange sensation as the room, ornaments and chest of drawers started wobbling and making a loud rumbling noise," he said.

One resident of Market Rasen, the town where the quake was centered, told Britain's Sky News, "I thought it was an explosion from the petrochemical plant here, but my wife said, 'no, that was an earthquake'".

"I was in bed at the time and suddenly there was quite a big bang and shaking that woke us up," said Laura Bocock, who lives close to Market Rasen, in northeast England. "It sounded like someone had hit the bungalow and (I) was quite frightened.

"I couldn't get back to sleep because I was scared it could happen again."

According to officials, the quake was centered 15 miles under ground, which offered enough of a rock buffer to soften the blow, even directly above in Market Rasen.

The man who told Sky he initially suspected an explosion said most of his neighbors seemed unfazed. "I saw one of my neighbors out in his pajama bottoms, but other than that, I think everybody slept through it."

Lincolnshire police, however, said they had received dozens of phone calls about the temblor and that some minor damage to homes had been reported.

"This is a moderate earthquake," Rafael Abreu of the U.S. Geological Survey told Sky News from the United States.

He described the tremor as a shallow interplate earthquake. He said his U.S.-based group initially put the magnitude at 4.7 but would likely adopt the 5.3-magnitude rating from his British counterparts.

Bukits said Britain is hit annually with about 200 quakes but only 10 percent are strong enough to be felt. A quake of magnitude 5 is capable of causing considerable damage.

The North West Ambulance service said its crews had also reported feeling the quake but had received "no actual calls from the public," said a spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the service's policy.

John Jenkin of Bourne said the jolt knocked objects from the shelves of his home.

A woman in Notting Hill, a wealthy section of London, reported that her radio was bumping up and down on a shelf for several seconds.

[jj998]

the epicenter was about 10 miles from me, no big deal really. my girlfriend said the bed rattled but thats not unusual :)
someone was telling me today a 8.0 earthquake is 10''000 times stronger.... this put cracks in my walls & brought down a few chimleys.

[mom_o_truth]

When Earth rattles its weights and MAN wonders its states. Earth tells you its news: Its creator is calling the dues................... Read the book.

[piercetheval]

We in California sympathize with our British cousins. We know all too well the feeling. Does anyone know the legend of King Arthurs bones being ground up and spread through Britian? I''ve been trying to find something on this subject for a few days now. Help is appreciated.

[excoachken]

It''s time to send Brownie and FEMA!

[cookiepops]

quite unnerving too in that it makes you wonder where it will strike next in the world if we are getting them!!!

[cookiepops]

ooops sorry for the repeated msg, computer playing up. Anyway, not something that I want to experience on a regular basis, my cat and rabbit sensed it a few seconds before I did. Pretty much the whole country felt it, and as I said quite a rare thing over here for us

[cookiepops]

I am in the UK and experienced the earthquake at 1am this morning. It is something quite rare over here, therefore quite unnerving for us. I was on the floor watching tv and heard this tremendous rumbling noise then the whole house shook for about 6-7 seconds. I knew it was an earthquake as I had experienced the last one we had in 2002 near me, but this was much larger and actually frightened me this time

[cookiepops]

I am in the UK and experienced the earthquake at 1am this morning. It is something quite rare over here, I was on the floor watching tv and heard this tremendous rumbling noise then the whole house shook for about 6-7 seconds. I knew it was an earthquake as I had experienced the last one we had in 2002 near me, but this was much larger and actually frightened me this time

[piercetheval]

Its Arthurs Bones! Does anyone know the legend that King Arthurs bones were ground and spread throughout Britain and why? I''ve been trying to find a lead on this for sometime.

[sherriepie1]

Every one best wake up and take note to whats going on in the world........There has been quite a few unusual quakes within the past few months with very limited coverage....maybe its time to end the evil the lies and greed that has turned this world upside down.jUST BE AWARE OF THE QUAKES SOMETHING IS GOING DOWN AND EVERY ONE IS TOOOOOOO QUIET REGARDING THIS SITUATION,,,,,,,,TAKE NOTE

[juwboy]

Earthquakes of magnitude 5 or greater occur about every 25 years in the UK. The largest on record, magnitude 6.1, was in 1931 as reported in an earlier Comment.

This one is unusual because its effects were felt over most of the British Isles. I''ve been monitoring BBC reports. Viewers have reported shaking from the south coast of England to the west coast of Wales and the north (but not the extreme north) of Scotland.
Northern Ireland was also affected.

[rowdytexan2]

I was online chatting with friends from England as the quake hit. It was pretty scarey for them. One of them said, OMG, the earth just moved. I said, what are ya''ll doing over there in the middle of the night? They said, no, really, the earth just moved. lol

[xraytwonine]

"... and so, it begins..."

Posted by RandyNason at 10:15 PM : Feb 26, 2008


thrilling

[susanhelit]

A 4.7? That''s a little shaker. The Ricter scale goes up exponentially - a 4 is ten times stronger than a 3, a 5 is ten times stronger than a 4 (actually more than, but near enough), etc. - so the difference between a 4 and a 7 is that the 7 is a thousand times worse than the 4.

I used to live in San Diego. We had a summer full of earthquakes - a bunch around 4.3 to 4.9, and some heavier shakers, up to a 6.3. Nothing fell down, one person was killed by a falling bookcase, and that''s it.

[randynason]

... and so, it begins...

[lloydbest1]

On 4/22/1884 an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of anywhere between 4.1 and 7 hit Colchester in eastern England. I wasn''t around then but accounts of the thing indicated that Colchester and surrounding villages were pretty much leveled. My guess is it wasn''t quite as bad as the early stories of it tell, but it may have had the same impact there that the Wells earthquake had in Nevada a week or two ago.
The Dogger Bank Quake of 6/7/1931 measured 6.1 on the Richter scale and had it struck anywhere in Britian instead of 125 miles offshore in the North Sea it would have been very nasty. Just so you know....there are oil rigs all over that area, and if it happened once.....

[caliengineer]

If 10% can be felt of 150-200, 15 to 20 can be felt a year, this in 1, sometimes 2 per month. 4.7? *yawn*

[hypnotoad72]

Is this an unprecedented event? "uncommon" does not suggest this is the first-ever occurrence of an earthquake in that region.