Biggest English Earthquake in 25 Years

At approximately 1:00 a.m. this morning, England felt the biggest earthquake in 25 years, measuring a 5.2 on the Richter scale.

The earthquake lasted around 10 seconds at 00:56 a.m., and measures at a depth of 15.4km (9.6 miles) and was the largest recorded earthquake since 1984, with a magnitude of 5.4 in South Wales.

The earthquake’s force was felt across the country, particularly affecting people in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Cumbria, the Midlands, and Norfolk and in some parts of Wales. The epicentre is said the have been near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, by the BGS (British Geological Survey).

The country didn’t suffer from any major damages, as of yet, but there has been recordings of many broken chimneys, fallen bricks and other such structural damages.

Although there are no recorded major injuries or deaths, a 19 year old student from Wombwell, South Yorkshire suffered from a broken pelvis as broken masonry fell onto him in his attic bedroom. Also, Mike Thomas, the chief fire officer for Lincolnshire reported that he had been called out to 50 incidents and one fire.

Dr. Brian Baptie, from the BGS, said this: "An earthquake of this size, of magnitude five or thereabouts, will occur roughly every 10 to 20 years in the UK, so we can get these kind of moderate to significant earthquakes of this size but they're relatively rare."

The first aftershock was at 4:00 a.m., approximately and had a magnitude of 1.8. More aftershocks are to be felt in 48 hours time.

The tremor had everyone across the country in an uproar, fearing for their lives. A resident of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, Ben Finnegan, said: "I was terrified to be honest. The noise was really, really terrifying... it was so deep and rumbling. It felt like the roof was going to fall in. There were people coming out in their dressing gowns wondering what it was. It was quite an experience."