Earthquake!

[Si-Co]

Actually, it does appear there has been some minor injuries and structural damage:

From BBC News:

Earthquake hits much of England

The biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years has shaken homes across large parts of England.

People in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Manchester, the Midlands and Norfolk felt the tremor just before 0100 GMT.

An elderly man suffered leg injuries when a chimney collapsed in Wombwell in South Yorkshire, emergency crews said.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the earthquake was of the magnitude of 5.3 and the epicentre was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

Bev Finnegan, who lives in Market Rasen, 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."

A Lincolnshire police spokeswoman said the force had received dozens of calls from residents but there were no reports of anyone in the county being injured.

"There is slight structural damage, cracks and a couple of chimneys damaged. There's nothing serious at present.

"Mostly people were distressed by it so there were a large quantity of calls coming in."

Speaking on BBC News, Justin Cowell in Gainsborough, said: "It started as a massive shake.

"People had come out into the street. It seemed the whole town had woken up."

Dr Brian Baptie of the BGS said: "An earthquake of this size, of magnitude five or thereabouts, will occur roughly every ten to 20 years in the UK," he said.

The BGS recorded an aftershock with a magnitude of 1.8 at about 0400 GMT.

The main 10-second quake, which struck at 0056 GMT at a depth of 15.4km (9.6 miles), was the biggest recorded example since one with a magnitude of 5.4 struck north Wales in 1984.

Dr Baptie said: "The largest earthquake that we know about that has struck the UK was about 100km off the east coast of England on the Dogger Bank and it had a magnitude of 6.1.

"So we can get these kind of moderate to significant earthquakes of this size but they're relatively rare."

The West Midlands was hit by an earthquake in 2002 in the Dudley area that reached a magnitude of 5.0 and one measuring 4.3 hit Folkstone in Kent last year.

Thousands of people from across England contacted the BBC to described how their homes shook during the tremor.

Jemma Harrison, 22, in Bury, Greater Manchester, said: "It was really bad. I was fast asleep and woke up and the room was shaking and there was a loud bang and alarms were going off."

Natasha Cavey, in Tipton in the West Midlands, said: "All my cupboard doors flew open and the whole house shook, it was unreal. I can't believe it."

David in Alrewas in Staffordshire said: "The birds were flying around like it was daylight.

"It was quite severe. I experienced the Dudley one and this was more severe.

"I went outside to see if the roof had collapsed. I could see the furniture in the room moving, it was like it was on a jelly mould."

David Somerset, 41, from Driffield near Beverley in East Yorkshire, said: "I have never felt one as strong as that one before. I was in my sitting room and the grandfather clock was rattling rather violently.

"It was very strong, I felt the whole room moving."

PREVIOUS QUAKES IN THE UK

April 2007 - Folkestone, Kent (magnitude 4.3)

December 2006 - Dumfries and Galloway (3.5)

September 2002 - Dudley, West Midlands (5.0)

October 2001 - Melton Mowbray (4.1)

September 2000 - Warwick (4.2)

April 1990 - Bishop's Castle, Shropshire (5.1)

July 1984 - Nefyn, north Wales (5.4)

June 1931 - in North Sea near Great Yarmouth (6.1)

[Di]

Emergency crews said a chimney collapsed through a roof and an man suffered a broken pelvis in Wombwell, near Barnsley. He is waiting surgery.

I could not bloody sleep, after the quake, everytime there was a noise. I was wide awake lol!!!! I did finally get to sleep abt 4am, up again at 7 to get Tom up for sch...

Earthquake shakes South Yorkshire

ONE of the biggest earthquakes to ever hit the UK shook South Yorkshire early today - leaving one man injured and damaging property.

.

The earthquake measured 5.2 on the Richter scale, equivalent to the explosion of more than 1,000 tons of TNT, according to the British Geological Survey.

It said the epicentre was 6.2 miles from the Earth's surface under the hamlet of Holton cum Beckering, near Market Rasen - about 15 miles north of Lincoln.

Now the region is being warned to brace itself for possible after-shocks.

The BGS said it had been inundated with calls from the public, media and emergency services.

Many people reported their homes being shaken violently and furniture moving, for up to 30-seconds. Some took to the streets for safety and to check for damage.

Hundreds of people in Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster reported it. Some said their properties "shook and vibrated" for up to 30 seconds.

Police received dozens of phone calls. Many people said the tremors had been strong enough to wake them, but there were no reports of deaths or major injuries.

Glenn Ford, a senior seismologist at the BGS, said: "It's an extremely large earthquake in UK terms but not large in world terms; we'd classify it only as a light earthquake."

Experts at the United States Geological Survey received thousands of reports on their web site from people who had felt the tremor, from as far apart as Portsmouth to Edinburgh. One was 422-miles away from the epicentre, in Brussels, Belgium.

Buildings are deemed to be at risk from a quake over five on the Richter scale, according to the Environment Agency.

A spokesman for the USGS said: "Even though this is light to moderate in world terms, people should still be prepared for more tremors. Events of this magnitude in this part of the world are really, really rare. But from experience, they do tend to generate after-shocks.''

The biggest on-land earthquake ever recorded in the UK measured 5.4 on the Richter scale in North Wales in 1984.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Britain was on June 7, 1931 and measured 6.1 with an epicentre north-east of Great Yarmouth in the North Sea.

It was felt across the British isles and in northwestern Germany. The quake killed one person.

A 4.6 magnitude quake in Colchester on April 22, 1884, was Britain's most damaging earthquake, knocking spires from churches and masonry from roofs.

Turrets and parapets also fell, and brick walls and chimneys collapsed. Two people were killed.

Between 200 and 300 quakes occur in Britain each year, but only about 10 per cent are strong enough to be felt.

[xGlowingAngelx]

It was extremely weird. I was in my bedroom and everyone was asleep and then all of a sudden my room shook! Loudly aswell! I literally jumped out of bed when it happened. And then my sister shouted to ask if I was OK and had the house just moved, which was how I knew I wasn't dreaming. Then she turned the news on and said it was an earthquake.

I know it may sound silly, but it actually freaked me out. Was a bit scared after it. lol. I couldn't sleep for a while. lol. But I drifted off eventually.

[Di]

Teen quake victim hit by falling chimney - VIDEO http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Teen-quake-v...t-by.3820032.jp

A TEENAGER told today how he narrowly escaped death when a chimney stack came crashing through his attic bedroom roof and landed on top of him.

David Bates, aged 19, of Barnsley Road, Wombwell, suffered a broken hip when the huge chunk of debris landed on him as he watched TV in bed.

Speaking from his hospital bed David said: "Everything started shaking and I don't know why, but I knew it was an earthquake.

"My wardrobe was shaking and it lasted for several seconds and then it all seemed to stop and I was laying there thinking 'what do I do now?'

"Then all of a sudden it all went dark and there was a noise like smashing plates as something came crashing through the ceiling. Then this big piece of concrete fell on me and landed on my hips.

"I suppose it was all the soot and dirt that turned it dark, it was really really painful, it fell on me with a big crunch."

Doctors at Barnsley Hospital are now assessing how to best treat David's broken hip.

Although he is still in pain, David, a keen Barnsley fan says he is "gutted" at the prospect of missing the Reds next few vital games.

He has got tickets for the FA Cup quarter final clash against Chelsea and was also looking forward to the game against Sheffield Wednesday.

He said: "At the moment that's what's really bothering me, the thought of missing those games."

Keep watching thestar.co.uk throughout the day for more on the earthquake.

[Zetti]

I didnt feel it

Shock Horror but My Mum did and it really scared her.

[freakybuffy]

It woke me up! But when I realised what was happening I went back to sleep. As things like that don't really bother be!

I just hope they arn't any serious injuries.

[Zetti]

It was extremely weird. I was in my bedroom and everyone was asleep and then all of a sudden my room shook! Loudly aswell! I literally jumped out of bed when it happened. And then my sister shouted to ask if I was OK and had the house just moved, which was how I knew I wasn't dreaming. Then she turned the news on and said it was an earthquake.

I know it may sound silly, but it actually freaked me out. Was a bit scared after it. lol. I couldn't sleep for a while. lol. But I drifted off eventually.

Thats not weird. It scared my mother as well. Not a nice thing to go through.

[lolajaney]

I was awake anyhow doing my degree study. It sounded like someone was tring to break into my house and someone was tapping on the bedrrom window.... which i didn't think was odd as it happened at my old house a lot due to an overgrown tree. It didn't freak me out as much as I was awake but the Dudley earthquake was freaky a few years ago, as I thought it was a perculiar dream

[I love music]

Um...I slept through it. First I knew of it was when I put the radio on this morning. I don't live in Yorkshire (which I believe was the epicentre - not sure if I'm using the right word there ) but I live fairly close to Yorkshire and when I got into work several people said they were woken by the earthquake and that furniture trembled, wardrobe doors were flung open etc. But, yeh, I slept through it. Guess I shouldn't be too surprised. When I was a kid a brass band marched past our house (we lived on a main road) and I slept through that too!

[Ryan]

England gets a little shake and it's all over the news, Scotland is literally flattened by 130mph gusts yesterday and not a whisper.