Giant earthquake shakes England

At about 0100 (GMT) this morning a 5.3 magnitude Earthquake viciously shook many parts of the UK especially Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Manchester, the Midlands, Norfolk and also some parts of Wales.

An Earthquake occurs when two plates of the earths Crust either slide past each other or when they collide. This shakes the ground below giving off a huge shockwave.

The epicenter of the quake was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

Local police spokeswoman said the force of the earthquake resulted in many phone calls from distressed residents with heavily damaged houses. A man speaking from Gainsborough, the chief of the fire department said, the crew was called out for 50 incidents and one fire.

The earthquake was felt very strongly in Manchester. Mrs. Ali who lives in North Manchester said she was woken by the bed shaking and her freestanding wardrobe also rattling violently. Mrs. Ali could here the some glass in her kitchen smashing. The wine glasses had fallen out of the cupboard onto the floor. Mrs. Ali said it was a very frightening experience.

Local radio stations took phone calls from worried listeners all over greater Manchester in the early hours of the morning. Mark Elliott from BBC Radio Manchester said “We had calls from across the North of England – not just Manchester. Most people said their house shook badly. Others said their pets went mad just before it happened. One man even took his family out of his house in case it collapsed.”

The main 10-second earthquake resulted in slight structural damage, cracks and some damaged chimneys. To everybody who was awake at the time, these 10 seconds seemed like a very long frightening experience.

This is the strongest recorded earthquake in Britain in 25 years. The strongest recorded earthquake was June 1931 in the North Sea near Great Yarmouth. This was a magnitude of 6.1.