do you have earth quakes in the uk?

Question

in malta we had to earth quakes can you tell
me if you haned one yes or now vip can you

help me tahkes marilou.

Answer 1

No we don'thave large ones because we are an island and we aren't near to moving tectonic plates or large cracks which usually cause earthquakes.
We have had some really small ones that noone even knows about

In 2002 a 4.8 earthquake hit wales and south england and buildings shook for 30 seconds.and there was some minor damage. Although the earth quakes are similar to a large earth tremor which isnt unexpected or new anywhere in the world.

Answer 2

It has been known. I was in one once It occurred in the mid 80's in the East Anglia region of the UK. It was really mild and all that happened was all our pencils rolled off our school desks and we heard a rumbling noise.

I'm sure somebody will get you a full record of when Earth Quakes have occurred in the UK but I just wanted to get a 'personal' experience answer in.

Answer 3

We DO have earthquakes... but htey are generally very mild by comparison with other areas of the planet. They are very infrequent as we are not sat atop a fault.

The last major one (major by UK standards) that I was in was in Dudley in the black country (midlands) a few years ago.

Many people in the UK mad bad jokes about it because of where it happened (there is a conception that people from Dudley are pretty stupid).

It was really pretty minor - not much damage to property. But it was enough to wake me up in the night - and I was living about 8 miles away form the epicentre.

Answer 4

Slight tremors only, Chichester in West Sussex is the earthquake capital of England.

Answer 5

yep but generaly very small. we had one of the east coast of ireland 6 months ago or so. and i know in the recent past wales have had a couple of quakes.

Answer 6

work on the english fella!

we have had some very slight tremors recorded, but luckily, don't live anywhwere near the edge of a tectonic plate (yours is the closest to us) so we never get anything serious.

Answer 7

Only very mild ones.

Hit spell check once in a while yeah. Good.

Answer 8

Yes the biggest we had was 6.1 in 1931 off Great Yarmouth.
you get earthquakes all over the planet its just that some regions experience them more than others due to the geology of the planet.

Go to second site below for all earthquakes to hit UK since 1974. Last one 2005 Fort William, Scotland

This report from 23 Sept 2002

Large parts of England and Wales have been hit by an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale.

Buildings shook for up to 30 seconds in parts of the West Midlands, Wales, North Yorkshire, London, and Wiltshire.

The tremor began at 0053 BST and its epicentre was in Dudley in the West Midlands.

There was minor structural damage as homes were shaken, but no reports of any injuries.

Aftershocks were felt later on Monday morning from what is thought to be the UK's largest earthquake for 10 years.

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


There was minor damage

BBC weather forecaster Pete Gibbs said: "It's not that unusual to have an earth tremor, but it is unusual to be that widespread and that widely reported.

"However, earth tremors are certainly not that uncommon in the UK."

West Midlands Police said they had 5,000 calls to their switchboard within an hour of the tremor happening and 600 calls to the 999 number.

Dudley police said 12 people in nightclothes walked into their local police station.

Sudden shocks

Julian Bukits, of the BGS, said an earthquake of magnitude four is equivalent to 1,000 tonnes of TNT - that in turn is equivalent to the power of a small nuclear weapon.

UK earthquakes (Richter scale measurements)
6.1 biggest ever recorded, about 120km off Great Yarmouth, 1931
5.4 biggest on land in Lleyn, north Wales, 1984
5.1 in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, in 1990
4.2 in Warwick, Sept 2000
4.1 shook Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, Oct 2001

The BGS said the earthquake's epicentre could only be located to within about a kilometre, and not pinpointed to an exact street or address.

Dr David Kerridge, senior seismologist, said: "Aftershocks are a possibility but we wouldn't expect anything of the same magnitude."

Although Monday's earthquake was large by British standards, tremors in places like California, Japan and India can reach seven or more on the Richter scale.

The whole length of Wales was shaken and people over 120 miles (190 km) apart felt two sudden shocks.

In south Wales, people in Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly, the Vale of Glamorgan and as far west as Swansea, felt the powerful shocks.

Callers to the BBC reported doors slamming and windows rattling.

Many miles further north, in Wrexham, officers from North Wales Police said their control room in a tower block shook violently.

Richard Flynn, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, said: "The house started shaking quite violently at about 1am. All the power was cut off and seemed to be so for about a five-mile (8-km) radius.

"The shaking and trembling was really quite severe. Quite a few people came out of their houses wondering what was going on. The streets were in darkness."

Power was restored after about 20 minutes.

Ground swayed

One Birmingham resident, Alex Potter, told BBC Radio Five Live: "My first thought was it's a bomb and then an earthquake.

"There was an earthquake in Birmingham back in the fifties when I was a boy but back then the ground swayed. It was quite different this time."

He added: "It was really quite frightening. I'm convinced there were two booms - lasting five or six seconds each."

Bill Wilson, who was duty inspector for Merseyside Police at the time of the tremor, said he took up to 30 calls from people who initially thought there was an intruder in their home or there had been an explosion.

"I've never had to take calls like this and some people I rang up myself thought I was winding them up but I had to assure them that I was serious."

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

Buildings are deemed to be at risk from a quake over 5 on the Richter scale, according to the Environment Agency.

Answer 9

no we dont really get earthquakes really, well not big ones anyway we rarely even get tiny ones that are barely noticable, maybe we're just luck that way.

Answer 10

Yes but they are infrequent.