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The biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years !

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Earthquake felt across much of UK
The biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years has shaken homes across large parts of the country.
People in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Cumbria, the Midlands, Norfolk and also parts of Wales, felt the tremor just before 0100 GMT.

A man suffered a broken pelvis when a chimney collapsed in South Yorkshire.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the epicentre of the 5.2 magnitude quake was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

Davie Galloway, seismologist for the BGS, said people had reported feeling the tremor from as far as Bangor in Northern Ireland to the west, Haarlem in Holland to the east, Plymouth to the south and Edinburgh to the north.

Student David Bates, 19, suffered a broken pelvis when he was pinned under masonry in his attic bedroom in Barnsley Road, Wombwell, South Yorks.

His father Paul Bates said: "There was a rumble and then we heard a bang and my son screaming 'Dad'."


I woke up and the first thing I thought was that there were a load of burglars in the house
Jamil Ali
Sheffield


His son was taken to hospital and was due to undergo surgery later.

Bev Finnegan, who lives in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, 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.



Moment quake hit

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

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

Speaking from Gainsborough, Mike Thomas, chief fire officer for Lincolnshire, said crews had been called out to 50 incidents and one fire as a result of the quake.

And Justin Cowell, in Gainsborough, told BBC News that it "started as a massive shake".

"People had come out into the street. It seemed the whole town had woken up."

Tom Edwards, from Heckington, Lincolnshire, said he heard a noise like "an underground train and an enormous roar".

"I thought I was probably going to get killed."

HAVE YOUR SAY The bed suddenly dropped away from me and then came back up. Bert Hobby, Bedfordshire

Dr Brian Baptie, of the BGS, said: "An earthquake of this size, of magnitude five or thereabouts, will occur roughly every 10 to 20 years in the UK.

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

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.

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."

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."


PREVIOUS QUAKES IN THE UK
April 2007 - , Kent (magnitude 4.3)
December 2006 - (3.5)
September 2002 - , West Midlands (5.0)
October 2001 - (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.

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.

Philip Norton, a BBC reporter for Look North in Hull, said: "Everything started wobbling.

"The windows were rattling and the blinds were visibly moving. It sounded like the roof was coming in."

BBC reporter Lynn Crombie in Norwich said she was "absolutely terrified" and thought somebody "had driven into the side of the house".

"Then I thought somebody must have kicked the door in and everything continued to rattle inside the house," she said.

Jamil Ali in Sheffield said: "I woke up and the first thing I thought was that there were a load of burglars in the house.

"The kids were screaming and so was my wife. It was that violent you actually moved yourself."

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 Folkestone in Kent last year.


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Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Earthquake felt across much of UK

Published: 2008/02/27 15:49:34 GMT

© BBC MMVIII
 
'Costly payout' after earthquake
Householders are clearing up and assessing the damage in the aftermath of the biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years.
Insurance experts said claims for structural damage and broken belongings were set to run into tens of millions of pounds.

People across the UK reported feeling the tremor just before 0100 GMT.

The epicentre of the 5.2 magnitude quake was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said it had received reports of people having felt the tremor from as far as Bangor in Northern Ireland, Haarlem in Holland, Plymouth and Edinburgh.

Scientists said while the tremor was small on a global scale, they described the earthquake as a "rare beast" and "significant" for the UK.

They said they believed the earthquake could have been caused by an old fault line in the East Midlands rupturing.

Norwich Union, the UK's largest general insurer, said it began to receive calls within hours of the tremor.


PREVIOUS QUAKES IN THE UK
April 2007 - , Kent (magnitude 4.3)
December 2006 - (3.5)
September 2002 - , West Midlands (5.0)
October 2001 - (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)

Moment quake hit

Jason Harris, senior claims manager, said the firm had received a number of calls overnight and expected further claims to be made when the extent of the damage became more clear.

He said: "At the moment these are reports of mainly minor damage such as tiles off roofs, breakages inside the homes and brick walls collapsing."

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said claims were "likely to run into the low tens of millions of pounds."

But a spokesman said: "One event of this nature will not push up premiums across the board.

"Insurers expect to deal with these incidents."

'Flew across floor'

People across the country reported how they had been woken by the "enormous roar" of the earthquake, which caused houses to shake and masonry to fall from buildings.

A 19-year-old student, David Bates, suffered a broken pelvis when part of a chimney stack crashed through his ceiling and onto his bed as he watched television at his home in Wombwell, South Yorkshire.


Lincolnshire Police said they had received more than 200 calls from concerned residents.

In Market Rasen, the Lincolnshire town nearest the epicentre, one resident spoke of being thrown from his bed by the force of the tremor.

Rex Clarke said: "It was like I was made of cotton wool - I just flew across the floor.

"It woke me up with a tremendous roar. I thought I was going crackers."

In Gainsborough, Red Cross volunteers were called out to provide "emotional and practical support" to about 14 people whose homes and cars were damaged.

Anita Moore, fire and emergency support co-ordinator, said: "The first incident we went to was an elderly lady whose property was badly damaged.

"There was a lot of rubble on the floor and the fire service was concerned about her chimney.

"She was really shaken up but we were able to comfort her and gave her advice on how to contact her insurance company."

The team was also called to help a man whose chimney had fallen off his house. Nearby houses were evacuated because of concerns about structural damage to the properties.

Meanwhile, householders in Greater Manchester flooded the fire service with calls.

Northamptonshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Norfolk Police also reported being flooded with hundreds of calls about the tremor.



Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | UK | England | 'Costly payout' after earthquake

Published: 2008/02/27 17:53:20 GMT

© BBC MMVIII
 
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