Earthquake Hits

Reporter: Ask Bury
Date online: 27 February 2008

The shockwave of an earthquake hit Bury in the early hours of this morning (just before 1.00am this morning)
The epicentre is reported to be in Lincolnshire, near Market Rasen, 15 miles north from Lincoln and 30 miles south of Hull, and the magnitude 5.2 on the richter scale - the largest in Britain for a decade.

National news programmes are reporting the quake having been felt as far and wide as Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham, Harrow and Norfolk. As yet there have been no reports of any injuries or structural damage.

There are around 200 earthquakes a year in Britain, according to seismologists, but only about 25 are felt by people. They rarely produce anything other than minor damage.

Earthquakes are caused by drifting tectonic plates slowly pressing up against one another. Eventually, the pressure becomes so great that one of the plates slips and judders violently. The result is a shaking of the earth immediately above and, depending on the magnitude of the quake, associated property damage and casualties.

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The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 (ML) on the Richter scale near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire at 00:56 GMT. The BGS has been inundated with calls from the public, media and emergency services throughout England.
Summary:
DATE : 27 February 2008
ORIGIN TIME : 00:56 GMT
LAT/LONG : 53.42° North / 0.35° West
GRID REF : 509.4 kmE / 392.7 kmN
DEPTH : 5.0 km
MAGNITUDE : 5.2 Richter Scale (ML)
LOCALITY : Market Rasen, Lincolnshire
The epicentre is approximately 8 km east of Market Rasen and reports suggest that the earthquake has been felt widely across England, with reports of damage to chimneys in the epicentral area. Earthquakes of this size occur in the mainland UK roughly every 30 years, although are more common in offshore areas. This is the largest earthquake in the UK since the magnitude 5.4 ML Lleyn Peninsula earthquake in 1984, which was widely felt across England and Wales.

 http://www.bgs.ac.uk/