Post by WitchBoy on Sept 23, 2002 4:18:24 GMT -5
<BBC NEWS>
Large parts of England and Wales have been hit by an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale.
Buildings shook for up to 30 seconds in parts of the West Midlands, Wales, North Yorkshire, London, and Wiltshire.
The tremor began at approximately 0054 BST and its epicentre was around Wolverhampton and Dudley in the West Midlands.
There was minor structural damage but no reports of any injuries.
The earthquake was the UK's largest for ten years
Glenn Ford, a senior seismologist at the British Geological Survey (BGS), said: "It's an extremely large earthquake in UK terms but not large in world terms, we'd only classify it as a light earthquake."
BBC weather forecaster Pete Gibbs said: "It's not that unusual to have an earth tremor, but it is unusual to be that widespread and that widely reported.
"However, earth tremors are certainly not that uncommon in the UK."
West Midlands Police said they had 5,000 calls to their switchboard within an hour of the tremor happening and 600 calls to the 999 number.
Dudley police said 12 people in nightclothes walked into their local police station.
Julian Bukits, of the British Geological Survey, said an earthquake of magnitude four is equivalent to 1,000 tonnes of TNT - that in turn is equivalent to the power of a small nuclear weapon.
The shaking and trembling was really quite severe. Quite a few people came out of their houses wondering what was going on
Richard Flynn Oldham
Although Monday's earthquake was large by British experiences, tremors in places like California, Japan and India can reach seven on the Richter scale.
Monday's earthquake is larger than the one that hit Melton Mowbray, East Midlands, on 28 October last year.
And two years ago to the day, people in the Midlands were hit by an earthquake centred on Warwick - it measured 4.2 on the Richter scale.
In the latest earth tremor, the whole length of Wales was shaken and people over 120 miles apart felt two sudden shockwaves.
In south Wales, people in Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly, the Vale of Glamorgan and as far west as Swansea, felt the powerful shockwaves.
Callers to the BBC reported doors slamming and windows rattling.
Many miles further north, in Wrexham, officers from North Wales Police said their control room in a tower block shook violently.
Richard Flynn, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, said: "The house started shaking quite violently at about 1am. All the power was cut off and seemed to be so for about a five-mile radius.
Birmingham resident Alex
"The shaking and trembling was really quite severe. Quite a few people came out of their houses wondering what was going on. The streets were in darkness."
Power was restored after about 20 minutes.
One Birmingham resident, Alex Potter, told BBC Radio Five Live: "My first thought was it's a bomb and then an earthquake.
"There was an earthquake in Birmingham back in the fifties when I was a boy but back then the ground swayed. It was quite different this time."
He added: "It was really quite frightening. I'm convinced there were two booms - lasting five or six seconds each."
Bill Wilson, who was duty inspector for Merseyside Police at the time of the tremor, said he took up to 30 calls from people who initially thought there was an intruder in their home or there had been an explosion.
"I've never had to take calls like this and some people I rang up myself thought I was winding them up but I had to assure them that I was serious."
Large parts of England and Wales have been hit by an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale.
Buildings shook for up to 30 seconds in parts of the West Midlands, Wales, North Yorkshire, London, and Wiltshire.
The tremor began at approximately 0054 BST and its epicentre was around Wolverhampton and Dudley in the West Midlands.
There was minor structural damage but no reports of any injuries.
The earthquake was the UK's largest for ten years
Glenn Ford, a senior seismologist at the British Geological Survey (BGS), said: "It's an extremely large earthquake in UK terms but not large in world terms, we'd only classify it as a light earthquake."
BBC weather forecaster Pete Gibbs said: "It's not that unusual to have an earth tremor, but it is unusual to be that widespread and that widely reported.
"However, earth tremors are certainly not that uncommon in the UK."
West Midlands Police said they had 5,000 calls to their switchboard within an hour of the tremor happening and 600 calls to the 999 number.
Dudley police said 12 people in nightclothes walked into their local police station.
Julian Bukits, of the British Geological Survey, said an earthquake of magnitude four is equivalent to 1,000 tonnes of TNT - that in turn is equivalent to the power of a small nuclear weapon.
The shaking and trembling was really quite severe. Quite a few people came out of their houses wondering what was going on
Richard Flynn Oldham
Although Monday's earthquake was large by British experiences, tremors in places like California, Japan and India can reach seven on the Richter scale.
Monday's earthquake is larger than the one that hit Melton Mowbray, East Midlands, on 28 October last year.
And two years ago to the day, people in the Midlands were hit by an earthquake centred on Warwick - it measured 4.2 on the Richter scale.
In the latest earth tremor, the whole length of Wales was shaken and people over 120 miles apart felt two sudden shockwaves.
In south Wales, people in Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly, the Vale of Glamorgan and as far west as Swansea, felt the powerful shockwaves.
Callers to the BBC reported doors slamming and windows rattling.
Many miles further north, in Wrexham, officers from North Wales Police said their control room in a tower block shook violently.
Richard Flynn, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, said: "The house started shaking quite violently at about 1am. All the power was cut off and seemed to be so for about a five-mile radius.
Birmingham resident Alex
"The shaking and trembling was really quite severe. Quite a few people came out of their houses wondering what was going on. The streets were in darkness."
Power was restored after about 20 minutes.
One Birmingham resident, Alex Potter, told BBC Radio Five Live: "My first thought was it's a bomb and then an earthquake.
"There was an earthquake in Birmingham back in the fifties when I was a boy but back then the ground swayed. It was quite different this time."
He added: "It was really quite frightening. I'm convinced there were two booms - lasting five or six seconds each."
Bill Wilson, who was duty inspector for Merseyside Police at the time of the tremor, said he took up to 30 calls from people who initially thought there was an intruder in their home or there had been an explosion.
"I've never had to take calls like this and some people I rang up myself thought I was winding them up but I had to assure them that I was serious."
[/glow]
ty ty ;D