Earthquake hits town!

Map of the British Isles showing the location of the earthquakes epicentre in Lincolnshire - Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

The shockwave of an earthquake hit Rochdale just minutes ago (just before 1.00am this morning) .

Brad Journeaux, who lives in a Manchester City Centre apartment, suggests the strength of the tremor felt in the City Centre was of a greater magnitude with the apartment block shaking vigorously. Brad Journeaux said: quot;It was quite severe; I ran out of the door as it felt like the building was falling down."

Emma Wood of Castleton emailed to say: quot;The quake was felt here in Castleton, the whole room was shaking, a photo frame fell off the television and the seat I was sat on was shaking beneath me. It felt very strange and lasted approximately 4-5 seconds.

Stacey Phillips of Wardle said: quot;My bed went right across the room, I didn't know what was going on."

Dr Cristina Sousa emailed from Pendleton: quot;I was working in my lounge when I felt the tremor, which shook the whole house and seemed to last quite a long time.
 
"It made me think of the series of quakes in Manchester about 5 years ago; since then from time to time I notice a very mild shake, very often at night, very gentle lull."

Stuart Cassells posted on the Rochdale Online Message Board: quot;The flat has stopped shaking, but we haven't!"

Others posting on the RO message board said: quot;My heart is still thumping" - Stephen Waddington.

"Frightened the living daylights out of me" - Lidia Barratt.

"Scared me witless" - Eileen Lord.

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 - 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.

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/