Earth tremor felt across England (Update: suggestions that it wasn’t an earthquake)
Earth tremor felt across England
(Update: suggestions that it wasn’t an earthquake)
People from across large parts of England have reported an earth tremor.
The BBC received calls from people in Yorkshire, the Midlands, Manchester, the Thames Valley, Norfolk, Preston, Newcastle and London about a “quake”.
The tremor was felt at about 0100 GMT and lasted for nearly 10 seconds but it is unclear if it has caused any damage.
The British Geological Survey said it believed the quake was of the magnitude of 5.1 and said the epicentre was close to Grimsby in north-east Lincolnshire.
A spokesman said it was the biggest earthquake to hit England since 1990 and could be of a level to cause minor damage to buildings.
The West Midlands was hit by an earthquake in 2002 in the Dudley area that reached a magnitude of 5.0 and caused damage to homes.
And last year an earthquake measuring 4.3 hit Folkstone in Kent, causing widespread damage.
Jemma Harrison, 22, in Bury, Greater Manchester, said: “It was really bad. I was fast asleep and woke up and the room was shaking and there was a loud bang and alarms were going off.”
Natasha Cavey, in Tipton in the West Midlands, said: “All my cupboard doors flew open and the whole house shook, it was unreal. I can’t believe it.”
David Somerset, 41, from Driffield near Beverley in East Yorkshire, said: “I have never felt one as strong as that one before. I was in my sitting room and the grandfather clock was rattling rather violently.
“It was very strong, I felt the whole room moving.”
Previous recent significant tremors:
April 2007 – Kent (magnitude 4.3)
December 2006 – Dumfries and Galloway (magnitude 3.5)
September 2002 – Dudley, West Midlands (5.0)
October 2001 – Melton Mowbray (4.1)
September 2000 – Warwick (4.2)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm
Local reports at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7266146.stm
Privatised nuclear storage base at RAF Faldingworth
27.02.2008 05:27
Check out this coincidental old Royal or US Air Force base near Market Rasen: Faldingworth.
Last listed, I kid you not, as used for “Explosives Testing and Storage”.
http://tinyurl.com/2mr7zr
here’s something?
from 2 weeks ago?
Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked
MP says West Lindsey council must stop explosions at airfield
http://www.marketrasenmail.co.uk/news/MP-says-West-Lindsey-council.376 9112.jp
AREA MP Edward Leigh lays responsibility for dealing with the contensious explosions at Faldingworth airfield firmly at the door of West Lindsey District Council – specifically on the shoulders of chief executive Duncan Sharkey.
“I will tell him he must use enforcement powers to close the company down,” he told an angry meeting of residents at Newtoft last Friday.
“They have the power but they have been reluctant to do it. Duncan Sharkey is the chief executive and he should get a personal grip on it.”
This is the second wave of explosions rocking villages around the former RAF station, causing damage to properties and misery for residents. Little has changed from the episode 18 months ago when West Lindsey took noise nuisance readings.
Pensioner Sheila Blenkinsop of Newton by Toft, is only now having damage repaired that was caused by the September 2006 explosions, and has to pay an Insurance excess of £1,000.
“It’s just as bad as last time,” she said. “The blasts are going on four days a week.”
Newtoft’s Dom Pavia said it was ‘absolutely horrendous’. “There is a blast every 15 or 20 minutes. Video cameras I’ve set up to record the blasts and vibrations have been knocked over. There are cracks appearing in my walls and chimney breast and ceilings have dropped.”
Mr Leigh accepted there had been some progress since 2006 in that enforcement officers had been able to get onto the site.
“They’re saying it is vital work in the national interest,” he said “but it must be possible to do that and be aware of residents.”
He advised residents to ‘band together and take legal action’.
“It is a scandalous state of affairs. I don’t think there is any doubt these cracks are down to these explosions and you would be perfectly entitled to take legal action against the company,” he said.
Mr Sharkey insists the council is working with both the site operator and local residents to resolve the issue.
“Our aim is to strike a balance with this company, which has 34 full-time employees and carries out a perfectly lawful business, with the wishes of the local community who want disruption kept to an absolute minimum,” he said.
He said the site was licensed by national government and West Lindsey’s role was to m
ake sure no statutory nuisance was being caused.
“Last year there was a breach in the regulations and the council stopped a different company from operating. On this occasion noise tests have not produced readings which amount to a statutory nuisance and the site owners have installed vibration equipment at the nearest property to the tests which are also monitoring the position.
“It is not, and never will be, West Lindsey’s intention to close down lawful businesses which provide employment for local people. More than 100 people are employed by this project both directly and indirectly.
“However, the residents have to be considered too and we will continue to work with both parties to minimise any disruption and inconvenience.”
Alan Longden, at Faldingworth, believes the company is just going to carry on.
“They don’t look at the impact it is having on the surrounding area. They’ve got a licence but that doesn’t look beyond the site itself. The problem is that it is in flat open countryside, surrounded by villages. It should be on a remote site.”
The full article contains 548 words and appears in Market Rasen Mail newspaper.
Last Updated: 12 February 2008
Yes, I felt it, my neighbour was still up, he felt it too, another friend rang me (at 1am), says he and his mum we’re stood on their doorstep waiting for aftershocks !!!
BBC FiveLive had a usgs.gov official on stating the epicentre was 20 miles south of Grimsby, strength varies between 4.7 and 5.7 on the richter scale
http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/recent_events/uk_special/market_rasen _27_feb_2008.pdf
From wikipedia – mustn’t get carried away but……
RAF Faldingworth was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command during and after World War II. It was located close to the village of Faldingworth in Lincolnshire. It was used during the war by number 300 (Polish) Squadron and a memorial is now in place to them at the end of the main runway.
Faldingworth entered service life as Toft Grange decoy airfield and later as a satellite airfield of RAF Lindholme. Late in 1943 it became a satellite of RAF Ludford Magna.
After the war the base was used for storage of weapons. becoming a nuclear weapons store in 1957. It closed in 1972 and was later used by BMARC as a weapons test site.
Current Ordnance Survey maps show the remains of a typical wartime bomber airfield, with the former storage site overlaying the south-western part of the airfield, about 2km east of Spridlington. There is a cluster of RAF-built housing north-east of the airfield area, and a group of RAF buildings used as an industrial estate.
Blimey! Could it have been an underground nuke?
Tony Gosling
Homepage: http://www.nineeleven.co.uk/board/viewtopic.php?t=13768
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/02/392386.html?c=on#c190066
