Rare earthquake creates alarm in southern England

Rare earthquake creates alarm in southern England


A rare earthquake shook households in southeast England on Saturday,
toppling chimneys, causing power cuts and alarming residents, authorities
said.

The tremor, which the British Geological Survey (BGS) said hit 4.3 on the
Richter scale, struck just after 8:15 am (0715 GMT) but left one woman
suffering a minor head and neck injury which required hospital treatment.

"Given the time that this has happened, people should be genuinely thankful
that so few people have been injured," Chief Superintendent Alasdair Hope of
Kent Police said.

The quake -- whose epicentre was identified by the BGS as being 7.5 miles
(12 kilometres) off the coast of Dover, in the English Channel -- was the
largest to hit Britain since one in the West Midlands in 2002.

Most of the damage was caused in the town of Folkestone, although the quake
was felt around Kent and up to 100 miles (160 kilometres) away from its
epicentre in other counties such as Essex, East Sussex and Suffolk.

A spokesman for Kent's Fire and Rescue Service said they had received
around 200 calls, with people complaining that "their chimneys have fallen
down (and of) large cracks in people's houses."

Electricity and gas supplies to homes in some parts of Kent were cut off
but were later restored. Authorities are still investigating some reports of
gas smells in the aftermath of the quake.

Hendrick van Eck, 27, from the city of Canterbury, said that the tremor
lasted just a few seconds.

"I then heard the sound of cracking and it was getting heavier and heavier.
It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down," he
said.

Sharon Hayles, from the nearby village of Stanford, said it felt like "the
whole house was being slid across like a funfair ride."

And Paul Smye-Rumsby, from the port town of Dover, told BBC radio:
"Suddenly the bed shook violently. I thought my wife had got cramp or
something but then I saw the curtains were moving and the house was shaking.
It lasted about 1.5 seconds."

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake measured 4.7 on
the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale now used by US seismologists.

The depth of the epicentre was put at 7.1 kilometres (4.4 miles).

A spokesman for Eurostar, which links Britain to continental Europe by rail
via the Channel Tunnel, said that services at the Ashford terminal in Kent,
near where the quake hit, were unaffected.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information
contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France
Presse.

Earl Evleth wrote:

And Paul Smye-Rumsby, from the port town of Dover, told BBC radio:
"Suddenly the bed shook violently. I thought my wife had got cramp or
something

ROFL!!

Priceless !!

Y.


--
Yitzhak Isaac Goldstein
AADP's 'left-wing Jewish intellectual'
'**** me, it's a torment to live amongst the nations'
http://www.chez.com/desmondcoughlan/

"Earl Evleth" a écrit dans le message de news:
...

Rare earthquake creates alarm in southern England


A rare earthquake shook households in southeast England on Saturday,
toppling chimneys, causing power cuts and alarming residents, authorities
said.

The tremor, which the British Geological Survey (BGS) said hit 4.3 on the
Richter scale, struck just after 8:15 am (0715 GMT) but left one woman
suffering a minor head and neck injury which required hospital treatment.

"Given the time that this has happened, people should be genuinely
thankful
that so few people have been injured," Chief Superintendent Alasdair Hope
of
Kent Police said.

The quake -- whose epicentre was identified by the BGS as being 7.5 miles
(12 kilometres) off the coast of Dover, in the English Channel -- was the
largest to hit Britain since one in the West Midlands in 2002.

Most of the damage was caused in the town of Folkestone, although the
quake
was felt around Kent and up to 100 miles (160 kilometres) away from its
epicentre in other counties such as Essex, East Sussex and Suffolk.

A spokesman for Kent's Fire and Rescue Service said they had received
around 200 calls, with people complaining that "their chimneys have fallen
down (and of) large cracks in people's houses."

Electricity and gas supplies to homes in some parts of Kent were cut off
but were later restored. Authorities are still investigating some reports
of
gas smells in the aftermath of the quake.

Hendrick van Eck, 27, from the city of Canterbury, said that the tremor
lasted just a few seconds.

"I then heard the sound of cracking and it was getting heavier and
heavier.
It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down," he
said.

Sharon Hayles, from the nearby village of Stanford, said it felt like "the
whole house was being slid across like a funfair ride."

And Paul Smye-Rumsby, from the port town of Dover, told BBC radio:
"Suddenly the bed shook violently. I thought my wife had got cramp or
something but then I saw the curtains were moving and the house was
shaking.
It lasted about 1.5 seconds."

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake measured 4.7
on
the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale now used by US seismologists.

The depth of the epicentre was put at 7.1 kilometres (4.4 miles).

A spokesman for Eurostar, which links Britain to continental Europe by
rail
via the Channel Tunnel, said that services at the Ashford terminal in
Kent,
near where the quake hit, were unaffected.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
information
contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten
or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France
Presse.