Massive earthquake hits Britain

[Blackleaf]

Well, it may not be "massive" on international scales, but it was the biggest earthquake to have hit Britain in 2006....


Quake 'biggest in UK this year'

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Press Association [/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Tuesday December 26, 2006 [/FONT]


[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]An earthquake that has shaken a Scots town is the biggest in the UK this year, according to experts.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Hundreds of people in the Dumfries area reported their houses shaking violently at around 10.45am on Tuesday morning.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Seismologists said the tremor, which lasted around 10 seconds, measured 3.5 on the Richter scale - the largest in the UK this year.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Bennett Simpson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, said: "This was a significant earthquake. But we would expect one or two of this magnitude every year, however.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]"We have taken a number of calls from people in the Dumfries area reporting windows rattling, houses shaking and hearing a large bang. It is the biggest in the UK so far this year."[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]He said Dumfries experienced an earthquake of magnitude 3 on the Richter scale in 2002.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Marie Brown, a receptionist at the Station Hotel in Dumfries, said: "I was sitting in the bar downstairs and all of a sudden I thought there was a convoy of trucks going past. But it didn't stop.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]"The walls then started shaking and I became quite frightened. My fiance is a builder and he looked at me and said 'This isn't good', but then it stopped.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]"I wasn't sure what it was, but you do hear of Scotland getting tremors or earthquakes so we thought that must have been what it was. It was a scary moment for us but everything seems to be OK."[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]A police spokesman from Dumfries said: "We felt it here and it lasted for about 10 seconds. We weren't sure what it was, then the phones started ringing and they haven't stopped. It was actually scary."[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]aol.co.uk[/FONT]

 

[Dalreg]

Wow 3.5! I think some of my bowel movements would register higher than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_scale

A 3.5 often is felt, rarely causes damage and occurs about 49 000 times a year.

 

[Kreskin]

http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Big deal. A 3.5 quake isn't much different from a heavy truck driving down the street in front of where you live. Rattles the china cabinet a bit, but nothing breaks.

And as Dalreg suggests... I'm sure I had at least a magnitude 3.5 bowel movement this morning, though it occurs only about 365 times a year, not 49,000 times, so you can't blame me for all of them.