4.7 Earthquake In Kent

[tashasmum]

I am just catching up with this as I haven't had my t.v. on this morning.

Just hope everyone is ok and that there hasn't been too much damage.
Is this all to do with Global warming?

This country never had things like this before.

It has nothing to do with with Global warming but no doubt someone on the news will try an attribute it to it.

We have had numerous Earthquakes and tremors in the UK. I can remember at least 5 in the last 20 years.

 

[tashasmum]

just checked on the BGS website

Do earthquakes occur in Britain?

YES, between 200 and 300 earthquakes are detected and located in the UK, by the British Geological Survey annually. Although distant from the nearest plate boundary, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, earthquakes occur as crustal stresses within the tectonic plates are relieved by movement occurring on pre-existing fault planes. The risk from these earthquakes is not insignificant and must be considered when engineering for sensitive installations.


FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF MAINLAND UK EARTHQUAKES (BASED ON OBSERVATIONS BETWEEN 1979 AND 1994)

Magnitude(ML) Average
5.0 and higher every 8 yrs
4 - 4.9 every 2 yrs
3 - 3.9 3/yr
2 - 2.9 26/yr
1 - 1.9 140/yr

So its nothing unusual just lets hope no-one is hurt

 

[KayleeUK]

Glad there was no injuries - what a shock though.

Denise - will email you soon

 

[Gonz Of Lancashire]

My Dad is in Folkestone at the moment and he rung me up this morning. He said it felt like the house was lifted and then dropped. There is damage to the chimney, some of the interior walls and ceilings are cracked and the power was out for a while. However, it was good to see Sky News blowing everything out of proportion, their relationship with the equally over-dramatic Fox News grows more obvious with every scoop.