Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Lincolnshire Earthquake

Source: Market Rasen Today website

Earthquake !
The strongest earthquake for almost 25 years hit the UK this morning. (BBC News article link)

It apparently had its hypocentre about 9 miles beneath Market Rasen in Lincolnshire (used to go through there on the way to Skegness when I was a kid....)
Some descriptions are here...

HERE is the USGS's description of the earthquake.Picture credit: USGS

I was awake as my daughter had just woken up, and the shaking started. First few seconds thought someone had fallen out of bed, then the walls and windows and items on top of the chest of drawers started rattling.
Got my daughter out of bed as her room is next to the chimney with a large chimney stack above, and then after about 10 - 15 seconds the shaking stopped.
Went out into the street into my dressing gown - very clear night - no-one else had any lights on and up and down the street was silent...
So went back to bed...

If you felt it, fill in the FORM ON THE WEBSITE. My intensity estimate was III.

Thanks to Ewan Laurie for the link to an article on the GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY's website, which discusses the methods used to measure the size / intensity of the shaking in an earthquake.
Here's one SLN Forum member's experience in Sheffield:

A few bricks have crumbled on our Chimney stack leaving next door's TV Aerial at a jaunty angle.....Here in Sheffield. Do i qualify for disaster relief?

Didnt get time to send the wife to stand under the door frame (she is 8 1/2 months pregnant though) but we have bottled water, a torch etc....no smell of gas.

Seriously I can empathise a little more with victims of something far more serious. My wife was a little shocked to find cds all over the floor.

A colleague was wondering whether to claim on the insurance for the crack in their chimney stack - even though it's been there for years...
Another one thought it was all the Chablis they'd drunk...

Market Rasen Today had a good headline (probably had more visitors today than for some considerable time)


Did you feel the earthquake ?
Add a comment below...

2 comments:

Kenny O'Donnell said...

Didn't feel the earthquake up here in Scotland,and you may have seen this already, but the Google Earth Blog has posted about an overlay of the earthquake:-
http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2008/02/uk_earthquake_view_data_in_google_e.html
Was also reading Google maps mania, and saw that there is an update on GE imagery for Norfolk, which will be relevant to your pupils?

Kenny

Alan Parkinson said...

Thanks Kenny - hadn't seen that !