2008 Earthquake epicentred around Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, England
On 27 February 2008 at 00:56:47.8s
GMT
an earthquake occurred at
Market Rasen
,
Lincolnshire
. According to the
British Geological Survey
the
earthquake
registered a reading of 5.2 on the
Richter scale
, with its
epicentre
2.5 miles (4 km) north of
Market Rasen
and 15 miles (24 km) south-west of
Grimsby
.
[1]
The duration of the earthquake was confirmed as roughly 10 seconds.
[2]
Spread of effect
[
edit
]
The tremors were felt across a wide area of
England
and
Wales
, from
Hampshire
in the
south
to
Newcastle upon Tyne
in the
north
, and as far west as
Bangor
,
Northern Ireland
. They were also reported in the
Netherlands
,
Belgium
, and the far north of
France
.
[3]
Structural damage was recorded in some areas, including one case where a
chimney
collapsed and injured a person in
Wombwell
,
Barnsley
,
South Yorkshire
.
Cause
[
edit
]
The
earthquake
was caused by the sudden rupture and motion along a
strike-slip fault
, 18.6 kilometres (12 mi) beneath Lincolnshire.
[1]
Earthquake motion occurred over a time span of ~2 minutes but it was most intense and was felt at the surface for just 10 to 30 seconds; maximum vertical
ground motion
at the epicentre of the earthquake was only ~1 mm. The observed
focal mechanism
implies either
sinistral
motion on a N?S or
dextral
motion on an E?W oriented strike-slip fault. The nine aftershocks observed, ~5 kilometres (3 mi) SSW of the main earthquake event, point to an approximately N?S oriented fault.
[1]
From the 5.2
magnitude of the main earthquake, a motion of a few centimetres along a ~2.5 kilometres (2 mi) long fault rupture is derived.
[4]
The energy released was 3.98×10
12
joules
(equal to the detonation of ~950
tonnes
of TNT).
[5]
Unlike typical earthquakes worldwide, the earthquakes of
Northern Europe
are
intraplate earthquakes
, meaning they are not close to
tectonic plate
boundaries.
[6]
Most intraplate earthquakes in northern Europe, including the
British Isles
, are thought to be driven by distant tectonic stresses ? a combination of E?W
North Atlantic Ridge
and N?S
African Plate
regional stress fields, and local
mantle
conditions.
[7]
[8]
Indeed, the motion on the strike-slip fault responsible for the earthquake is compatible with a local NW?SE stress field;
[1]
a product of the E?W and N?S regional stress fields.
Only a minority of earthquakes in the UK are related to
post-glacial rebound
e.g. the minor earthquakes (<3.5
) of western Scotland, where
glaciers
~1 km thick existed during the peak of the last
ice age
.
[8]
Effects
[
edit
]
The earthquake resulted in structural damage to many homes and businesses in the epicentral area.
[1]
[3]
Buildings as large as apartment blocks were reported to have shaken for up to 30 seconds afterwards.
[2]
Birds and pets became highly agitated.
[9]
There were no deaths, but a 19-year-old man in
Wombwell
,
Barnsley
,
South Yorkshire
suffered a broken pelvis when a piece of chimney fell through the roof onto his attic bed.
[3]
[10]
The earthquake was felt by people as far south as
Bournemouth
, where it was felt as a mild but noticeable vibration, and as far away as
Bangor, Northern Ireland
, where it woke people.
[3]
[9]
Police in the
Midlands
received more than 5,000 telephone calls in an hour from members of the public regarding the earthquake.
[2]
The earthquake caused
power cuts
in some areas.
[2]
A church in
March, Cambridgeshire
reported that, since the earthquake, water had been coming up from the ground into the cellar at a rate of 10 imperial gallons (45 L) per hour.
[11]
The spire of St Mary Magdalene church at
Waltham on the Wolds
in
Leicestershire
was damaged and was to be rebuilt at a cost of £100,000.
[12]
Also damaged were the spires of St Andrew's church in
Haconby
, St Andrew's of
Witham on the Hill
, St Vincent's church in
Caythorpe
,
[13]
all three in
South Kesteven
.
The cost of insurance payouts was estimated to be around £30 million,
[14]
with the majority of damage being done to chimneys, roof tiles and by falling masonry.
[14]
Magnitude
[
edit
]
The tremor was the largest earthquake to affect the UK since the
1984 Ll?n Peninsula earthquake
, which measured 5.4 on the
Richter scale
.
[15]
The
British Geological Survey
gave the earthquake a reading of 5.2
M
L
, while the United States Geological Survey reported it measured 4.8
M
b
.
[16]
The
French Atomic Energy Commission
estimated the magnitude was 5.4M
L
.
[17]
Aftershocks
[
edit
]
A total of nine aftershocks were recorded. The largest, measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale, occurred around five weeks after the initial event, on 5 April at 13:57 GMT.
[18]
Responses
[
edit
]
Firefighting crews were called out to 50 incidents and 1 fire as a result of the quake.
[19]
Building Control & Street Force officers worked quickly to assess damage in the area around West Lindsey,
[20]
and West Lindsey District Council also urged people to call their telephone number if people were concerned about damage to their homes.
[20]
Trent Street in Gainsborough was closed to traffic whilst a local builder assessed if properties were structurally safe,
[20]
after 1 family was evacuated from their house following concerns about collapses.
[20]
Significance
[
edit
]
The BGS described the earthquake as an "extremely large earthquake in UK terms but not large in world terms".
[2]
Approximately 200 earthquakes occur in the UK every year, approximately 175 of which are too weak to be noticed by humans.
[1]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"Market Rasen Earthquake 27 February 2008 00:56 UTC 5.2 ML"
. British Geological Survey. Archived from
the original
on 9 March 2008
. Retrieved
8 December
2011
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Yeoman, Fran (27 February 2008).
"Earthquake hits Britain, 5.3 magnitude"
.
The Times
. London
. Retrieved
27 February
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Earthquake hits much of England"
.
BBC
. 27 February 2008.
Archived
from the original on 3 March 2008
. Retrieved
27 February
2008
.
- ^
Wells, Donald L.; Coppersmith, Kevin J. (1994).
"New empirical relationships among magnitude, rupture length, rupture width, rupture area, and surface displacement"
.
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
.
84
(4).
Seismological Society of America
: 974?1002.
Bibcode
:
1994BuSSA..84..974W
.
doi
:
10.1785/BSSA0840040974
.
S2CID
10561127
.
- ^
"Earthquake Power Calculator"
.
[www.convertalot.com]
. Retrieved
29 February
2008
.
- ^
Cloetingh, S.; Ziegler, P.A.; Beekman, F.; Andriessen, P.A.M.; Matenco, L.; Bada, G.; Garcia-Castellanos, D.; Hardebol, N.; Dezes, P.; Sokoutis, D. (2005). "Lithospheric memory, state of stress and rheology: neotectonic controls on Europe's intraplate continental topography".
Quaternary Science Reviews
.
24
(3?4): 241?304.
Bibcode
:
2005QSRv...24..241C
.
doi
:
10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.06.015
.
- ^
Bott, Martin H.P.
; Bott, Jacqueline D.J. (2004).
"The Cenozoic uplift and earthquake belt of mainland Britain as a response to an underlying hot, low-density upper mantle"
.
Journal of the Geological Society
.
161
(1): 19?29.
Bibcode
:
2004JGSoc.161...19B
.
doi
:
10.1144/0016-764903-014
.
S2CID
129807173
.
- ^
a
b
Firth, Callum R.; Stewart, Iain S. (2000). "Postglacial tectonics of the Scottish glacio-isostatic uplift centre".
Quaternary Science Reviews
.
19
(14?15): 1469?1493.
Bibcode
:
2000QSRv...19.1469F
.
doi
:
10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00074-3
.
- ^
a
b
Kossof, Julian (27 February 2008).
"Earthquake hits UK"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. Archived from
the original
on 3 March 2008
. Retrieved
27 February
2008
.
- ^
"UK rocked by strongest earthquake in over 20 years"
. TV3 New Zealand. 27 February 2008.
Archived
from the original on 2 March 2008
. Retrieved
27 February
2008
.
- ^
"Mystery of 'holy' water's source"
.
BBC News Online
. 26 March 2008.
Archived
from the original on 31 March 2008
. Retrieved
26 March
2008
.
- ^
"Scaffolding due this week"
. Save Our Spire!. 10 March 2008
. Retrieved
13 January
2009
.
- ^
"Steeple damage closes St Vincent's Church in Caythorpe"
.
Grantham Journal
. 14 February 2012. Archived from
the original
on 12 October 2012
. Retrieved
5 October
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Britten, Nick (27 February 2008).
"British earthquake to cost £30 million"
.
ISSN
0307-1235
. Retrieved
18 March
2018
.
- ^
"Lincolnshire earthquake "one of biggest ever"
"
. Lincolnshire Echo
. Retrieved
27 February
2008
.
- ^
"Magnitude 4.8 ? England, United Kingdom"
. United States Geological Survey. 27 February 2008.
Archived
from the original on 2 March 2008
. Retrieved
27 February
2008
.
- ^
"Alerte Sismique"
(in French). Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (CEA). 27 February 2008.
Archived
from the original on 2 March 2008
. Retrieved
27 February
2008
.
- ^
"Market Rasen aftershocks"
. British Geological Survey. 14 April 2008. Archived from
the original
on 6 April 2008
. Retrieved
14 April
2008
.
- ^
"Earthquake felt across much of UK"
. 27 February 2008
. Retrieved
18 March
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"West Lindsey responds to earthquake incident"
. Retrieved
18 March
2018
.
External links
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]
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†
indicates earthquake resulting in at least 30 deaths
‡
indicates the deadliest earthquake of the year
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