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Incident

Largest earthquake hits UK

27 February 2008 10:51 (UTC +04:00)

The British Geological Survey said on its website that the tremors measured 5.3 on the Richter scale.
According to the BGS, the earthquake struck at 12:56 am (0056 GMT) some 125 miles north of London, close to the northeastern English shore near the town of Lincoln.
Lincolnshire Police, which covers the area near the epicentre of the quake, said they had received reports of some damage to homes, but there were no details as to the extent of the damage.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Leicestershire constabulary, which covers Leicestershire county, south central England, told AFP that they had been "inundated with phone calls right throughout Leicestershire. ... It does seem to be widespread."
She said that there had been some reports of damage to chimneys, with bricks having fallen off, but said they had received no reports of injuries.
A spokeswoman for North West Ambulance Service said that she felt "the tremors here in our control room," while Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, covering parts of northwest England, said they had received reports of tremors, but had no reports of any injuries.
Reports from the BBC and Sky News television carried witness statements saying that the tremors were felt at around 1:00 am, and lasted for between 10 and 15 seconds.
A student at Loughborough University in Leicestershire county north of London said that in his residence hall he also felt the quake, which moved his bed several inches.
An AFP correspondent in Ealing, west London, said that his apartment building "shook for 10-15 seconds. The whole sofa was shaking."
The British Geological Survey said it records around 200 earthquakes in Britain per year.
Earthquakes of this size occur around every 30 years on the mainland but are more common in offshore areas, it added.