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
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