Quake in UK
 

This really happened yesterday at about 1AM. There was a tremor in Lincolnshire, small fry compared to quakes other parts of the world, but quite big as far as the UK goes. As far as I know, only one person got hurt, but it was mostly just house damage. The tremor was felt quite a long way away, though, as far south as London and as far north as Newcastle. Personally, I never felt a thing. I was asleep at the time though.

Glad to know you're fine and that the damage wasn't too bad. I'd read about the quake; quite unusual for your part of the world, I believe, but I don't think any place on Earth is truly earthquake-free.

I don't actually live in Lincolnshire, that's in the middle of the country, I'm from County Durham in the north east. I was nowhere near.
And I agree, no place is quake-free. It's just that some places get it worse than others.

Yeah, I was caught up in this (I mentioned it in the Post Whatever Is On Your Mind thread). I was just drifting off to sleep when my bed just suddenly started shaking, and all around me I could hear the ominous creaking of the entire house shaking along with it. Since it had been a pretty windy day previously, my immediate thoughts were that we were experiencing a hurricane (also a pretty rare occurence in the UK, but they have happened - I like to think that the fact that I was awake during this particular phenomenon makes up for the fact that I slept through the infamous hurricane we experienced in 1987, though then again I was only two years old at the time, so I doubt I'd have been able to appreciate it all that much). Only as it was coming to an end did I realise that it was probably a seismic thing. It was pretty scary, particularly since I've never experienced anything of this nature before, but it didn't last long, and nothing appears to have been too badly damaged around us.

I heard about that and wondered if any forum members experienced it. I can't see how anyone could sleep through a quake of that magnitude, though, since we had a 4.0 a few years ago, and that DANG sure woke ME up! I'm very curious as to just what geological processes are responsible for quakes in Britain, far from a plate boundry where quakes usually occur. Here in South Carolina, we've had some horrific quakes in the past, including one that nearly leveled Charleston in the late 1800's, which was estimated to have been in excess of an 8.0 in magnitude and was felt as far away as Boston, MA! We have, on average, over 200 quakes per year in this state, most of which are very small and undetectable except by sensitive seismometers. Geologists are only just now beginning to unravel WHY we have quakes, as being a two-fold process: one, the land here is still "rebounding" from having been weighted down by glaciers during the Ice Age, and this causes quakes in the western part of the state, while the crust nearer the coast is rebounding from that continental edge having collided with Africa a few hundred million years ago, like aluminum popping back out on a can when outside pressure is removed.

pitbulllady

Both of my housemates somehow managed it, curiously enough, though one of them did report the following morning that she remembered dreaming about being shaken throughout the night.

Well apparently there are a series of smaller plates on the continental plates, 2 of which must have had a barney under Lincoinshire the other night.

Sadly I felt nowt though because I was asleep and there was no damage at all reported locally. My dad in North Yorkshire reported a commotion that seem to emanate from the roof but he thought it might be an Owl. I've heard people mistook it for an explosion or a large train going past but that's the first time I've heard an earthquake misidentified as an Owl.

Funnily enough the part of Manchester I live in is statistically one of the most geologically active parts of Britain, it being on the edge of 2 'micro-plates' but I've not felt anything in the five years I've lived here.

Y'all must have some big honkin' owls in England, for someone to mistake an earthquake for one, lol! We've got Great Horned Owls, with nearly seven-foot wingspans, whose favorite snacks are house cats, small dogs and foxes, and I've actually had one or two land on top of the house and stroll around, but that was nothing like the last quake we experienced in Sept. 2006, which was only like a 3.5. The last quake that caused any damage was the 4.0, about 10 years ago, and that made quite a mess inside my house, jarring open cabinets and dumping dishes and glasses on the floor, and shattering an antique heirloom electric wall clock from 1923, which had hung in my great-grandfather's store. I was in bed when that one hit, and it felt just like I was driving a car which experienced a tire blow-out at high speed, and like many quakes in SC, was accompanied by a horrific loud roaring sound and preceded by a very loud BOOM. It also created a crack in the walls and floors of our church's concrete block recreation building, all the way from one side to the other, and considering that with each number, the power of a quake increases 100-fold, I guess a 5.3 would do some pretty major damage around here.

pitbulllady

I read JJ's post last night in the other thread, and was surprised one hit that was strong enough to be felt. Glad you guys are all ok and there wasn't any significant damage.

I've been through a few very minor quakes, only two of which I remember feeling. The first was in New Mexico, and I remember hearing what seemed like all the dogs in the neighborhood barking at the same time. I immediately knew something was up. A few seconds later, they were quiet again, and replacing them came a very deep rumbling sound. It was at night, and I could feel my bed vibrating a little. I knew for sure it was an earthquake, and the next morning at hearing the news confirmed that. I thought it was pretty cool, actually. The second was in Illinois, again at night, but no dogs barking this time. I heard the deep rumble, and again felt my bed vibrating, but thought it was just a 14-wheeler driving by slowly while carrying an extra heavy load. The next morning I again learned that nope, it was an earthquake. There was no significant damage either time besides a few small cracks reported around town.

Here in Seattle we're very prone to large damaging earthquakes, not much different from Western Cali. There's been a few tiny ones since I've been in the area (2 1/2 years now), but it's been in the news a number of times how we're long over due a "big one". It makes me kind of nervous because there's no warning before hand. You just never know when it's going to hit, or where you'll be when it does. I could handle tornado sirens much better. :macwor:

As I have said many times, no place is disaster-proof. They can happen at anyplace at anytime. Even types of disasters that are rare in parts of the world can happen there, such as an earthquake in a geographical area that does not get a lot of seismic activity. You just have to be prepared, when disaster hits.