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Enderby shudders as 5.2 quake is felt
"I heard a 'bang' then the whole house shook..."
27 February 2008
Page of the USGS website announces the quake in real time...'snapped' at 1.20am 27/2/08
USGS
Many Enderby folk were awakened by an earth tremor that struck at just minutes before 1.00am.
Described by the British Geological Survey (BGS) as a quake measuring a local magnitude of 5.2 on the richter scale, the tremor was accompanied by a noise variously described as a 'bang' followed by a sound like a juggernaut passing by.
The Survey confirmed a second, smaller earthquake of around 1.8 on the richter scale, had been recorded in the vicinity at 2:46am.
Minutes following the quake, the website of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) had pinpointed the epicentre as 53.321°N, 0.314°W placing it 30 miles south of Kingston Upon Hull in the North East - some 95 miles distant from Enderby.
The BGS placed the epicentre in Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, about 78 miles from Enderby.
The tremor was felt across the country, with reports arriving from across the length and breadth of England.
One Enderby resident admitted to thinking their house was about to collapse around them, the 'shaking' was so pronounced.
Another account spoke of hearing a 'bang' then around a 10 second rumbling noise and seeing bedroom furniture items judder.
With the whole event taking only a few seconds, and occurring at the time it did, it is possible that many others would have been sound asleep and unaware of the event.
Largest 'quake in almost 25yrs
This morning's earthquake was the biggest recorded example since one with a magnitude of 5.4 struck north Wales in 1984.
The BGS say that in the U.K. we can reasonably expect an earthquake of this size, (magnitude five or thereabouts) roughly every ten to 20 years.
An early morning viewer, Sylvia Tidy-Harris from Ellistown, approx 12 miles from Enderby, rang in to Sky TV describing the experience as a "real boneshaker".
"It was like a big juggernaut was coming down the road. It was very loud and the whole house shook" she said.
In 2002, in what was thought to be the UK's largest 'quake in a decade, buildings shook for up to 30 seconds in parts of the West Midlands, Wales, North Yorkshire, London, and Wiltshire.
On that occasion the tremor began at 0053hrs (virtually the same time as the current event) and measured 4.8 on the richter scale - its epicentre pinpointed to Dudley in the West Midlands.
In 2002 there was minor structural damage as homes were shaken, but no reports of any injuries.
This morning's tremor was sufficient to cause "minor damage to buildings" according to a BGS spokesperson.
An early report spoke of a man who had suffered leg injuries when a chimney collapsed in Wombwell in South Yorkshire.
About earthquakes
An earthquake is the sudden release of strain energy in the Earth's crust resulting in waves of shaking that radiate outwards from the earthquake source. When stresses in the crust exceed the strength of the rock, it breaks along lines of weakness, either a pre-existing or new fault plane. The point where an earthquake starts is termed the focus or hypocentre and may be many kilometres deep within the earth. The point at the surface directly above the focus is called the earthquake epicentre.[1]
Earthquakes can occur anywhere. However, they are unevenly distributed over the earth, with the majority occurring at the boundaries of the major crustal plates.
These plate boundaries are of three types: destructive, where the plates collide; constructive, where the plates move apart; and conservative plate boundaries, like the San Andreas Fault, where the plates slide past each other.
Earthquakes also occur, less frequently, within the plates and far from the plate boundaries, as in eastern USA, Australia and the United Kingdom. [1]
The cause of earthquakes was stated correctly in 1760 by British engineer John Michell, one of the first fathers of seismology, in a memoir where he wrote that earthquakes and the waves of energy that they make are caused by shifting masses of rock miles below the surface. [2]
[1] British Geological Survey
[2] United States Geological Survey
Associated links:
» BGS Preliminary Report (pdf)*
» United States Geological Survey (USGS)
(*Note: You will need a PDF viewer to view this portable document file (pdf).
Adobe Acrobat is a free viewer available here.)
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