Earthquake in Sheffield UK [Archive]

jaded-mandarin

Feb 26, 2008, 08:05 PM

Just on the phone to my girlfriend (Huddersfield) when it happened. Didn't have a clue what was going on then it hit me (Liverpool). Was unsure whether my mind was making stuff up, but I swear something went down. I'm on the 11th floor so it was only slight, but definitely something.

:eek:

MacBoobsPro

Feb 26, 2008, 08:06 PM

I have just awoken to the whole room shaking and a huge rumbling noise at 12.58am here in Sheffield UK. Knowing this would be a quick way to find out what happened I whipped out my iPhone and posted here.

Its my first one. I slept through the last one! Hehe.

Hello.there

Feb 26, 2008, 08:10 PM

Didn't have a clue what was going on then it hit me (Liverpool).

Liverpool? :eek: I don't mean to be self-obsessed, but I live in Dublin.....does that mean there's a Tsunami on the way? :o

xUKHCx

Feb 26, 2008, 08:10 PM

I have just awoken to the whole room shaking and a huge rumbling noise at 12.58am here in Sheffield UK. Knowing this would a quick way to find out what happened I whipped out my iPhone posted here. So was it an earthquake?

It was most definitely an earthquake. Waiting to see how strong (weak in other countries terms) it was.

Chillijam

Feb 26, 2008, 08:12 PM

I felt it (actually it woke me up) in Ackworth, near Pontefract. It's a big 'un if it was felt from London the Liverpool, and all the way across the country.

Chillijam

Feb 26, 2008, 08:13 PM

It was most definitely an earthquake. Waiting to see how strong (weak in other countries terms) it was.

Where are you looking for the info? I won't be able to get back to sleep again now for a while - may as well see what went on.

randallisation

Feb 26, 2008, 08:16 PM

Never been woken by one till now, I could feel the floors and walls shaking, in the middle of Leicester

IJ Reilly

Feb 26, 2008, 08:18 PM

An actually fairly significant quake.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008nyae.php

Hello.there

Feb 26, 2008, 08:21 PM

This website beat Sky News by 10 minutes with news of the earthquake - and to think I only came here for Mac info :D

MacBoobsPro

Feb 26, 2008, 08:22 PM

An actually fairly significant quake.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008nyae.php

The last quake was 4.8 in Dudley. Your link kind of puts this one in Lincoln at 4.7 where a lot of my family are. Hope they are ok over there.

xUKHCx

Feb 26, 2008, 08:22 PM

4.7 the epicenter according to that site is just north of Lincoln or about 50 miles west from my house.

theGAPkid

Feb 26, 2008, 08:22 PM

Sorry if already posted - couldnt see any!

Any UK users just witnessed (and been woken up by :mad:) an EARTHQUKE?

Bout shook the house down. People have been on the streets trying to work out what happened. I thought explosion to begin with

Sky News are reporting an earthquake!!!

IJ Reilly

Feb 26, 2008, 08:24 PM

Follow that link I posted and you'll be able to report what you felt, which will be mapped automatically by the USGS. Always quite interesting, and even more so since I've never seen one mapped in the UK before!

Ryox

Feb 26, 2008, 08:28 PM

Yeah I felt it too lol

thequicksilver

Feb 26, 2008, 08:28 PM

Yep, I had it here in Newcastle, Staffs. Three or so seconds, no more. At first I thought the noise was someone breaking my front door down.

xUKHCx

Feb 26, 2008, 08:34 PM

IJ Reilly

Feb 26, 2008, 08:37 PM

Just filled it in, will be quite interesting to see the results of it.

You'll probably find people further away reporting feeling more shaking than people nearer to the epicenter.

xUKHCx

Feb 26, 2008, 08:39 PM

You'll probably find people further away reporting feeling more shaking than people nearer to the epicenter.

I was just about to ask because I got V where as some one from St Albans ~ 150 miles away got IV but of course it is slightly subjective. And someone from Barnsley , very close to Sheffield) got VI

edit: I actually got V read the wrong line

IJ Reilly

Feb 26, 2008, 08:45 PM

I was just about to ask because I got III where as some one from St Albans ~ 150 miles away got IV but of course it is slightly subjective.

It's somewhat subjective, and highly dependent on where you were when the shaking started. Above the ground floor amplifies the affect, wood frame building as opposed to masonry, etc. It also depends on your local geology. Based on the location of the quake I would expect some pretty good shaking to be reported in the Fenlands. Lots of liquefaction potential there I'd guess.

xUKHCx

Feb 26, 2008, 08:46 PM

It's somewhat subjective, and highly dependent on where you were when the shaking started. Above the ground floor amplifies the affect, wood frame building as opposed to masonry, etc. It also depends on your local geology. Based on the location of the quake I would expect some pretty good shaking to be reported in the Fenlands. Lots of liquefaction potential there I'd guess.

I have since changed my post after I realised I read the wrong line, I scored a V.

So are you some sort of geologist. My dad did a degree in geology and I find it fascinating.

JDR

Feb 26, 2008, 08:49 PM

Didn't feel anything at my house.......

Probably because I live in the U.S. :D;)

IJ Reilly

Feb 26, 2008, 08:49 PM

I have since changed my post after I realised I read the wrong line, I scored a V.

So are you some sort of geologist. My dad did a degree in geology and I find it fascinating.

No, just a bit of background in physical geography, and I live in earthquake country (Southern California).

aanndrew

Feb 26, 2008, 09:00 PM

Omg I sh*t my self :/
4.7 on rikta scale
I was just browsing net on me iPhone my bed started shaking like crazy den me room just started vibrating n I got dizzy n stuff
I shouted me mum
I was the only one up !!
My first earthquake my god scary stuff!!

xUKHCx

Feb 26, 2008, 09:00 PM

No, just a bit of background in physical geography, and I live in earthquake country (Southern California).

What is a normal earthquake for you and what is the biggest you have felt.

Hello.there

Feb 26, 2008, 09:05 PM

IJ Reilly

Feb 26, 2008, 09:09 PM

What is a normal earthquake for you and what is the biggest you have felt.

I don't think they come in normal sizes. The biggest I've been through was the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which was a 7.3 on the Richter Scale IIRC. The epicenter was about 25 miles away. The scale is logarithmic, so that's a much bigger quake than the one you had. It was very destructive in many nearby areas but not where I live fortunately. Still, plenty scary. In a way, the worst part was the aftershocks some of which were quite significant quakes on their own. We felt them for weeks afterwards and they mostly seemed to come in the middle of the night.

xUKHCx

Feb 26, 2008, 09:12 PM

I don't think they come in normal sizes. The biggest I've been through was the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which was a 7.3 on the Richter Scale IIRC. The epicenter was about 25 miles away.

wow 7.3 is pretty huge that must have been very scary. I found it quite exciting and scary at the same time. At least I can now say I have felt an earthquake.

I know quite a lot about the richter scale as my dad is a geologist and my mum a geography teacher.

obeygiant

Feb 26, 2008, 09:58 PM

OMG Earthquake! Quick, everyone post on the internet! :D

MacHipster

Feb 26, 2008, 10:48 PM

In London and didn't notice anything at all. I always miss out.

karenflower

Feb 26, 2008, 10:54 PM

I'm near Sheffield too, it was horrible!! Already joined a facebook group about it lol. :rolleyes:

yeroen

Feb 26, 2008, 11:12 PM

Has anyone checked in on Jarvis Cocker? Are his nerves rattled? Is he OK? :)

iBlue

Feb 27, 2008, 01:34 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm

5.3

It's a significant quake and they're scary but I kinda had to giggle at all the reactions on the BBC site, people crying (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7266146.stm) and stuff. LOLz

Sorry England, I'm a native Californian and these things follow me wherever I go.

(I was in Santa Cruz in '89 for the 7.1 Loma Preita, and already back living in LA [woodland hills] for the '94 Northridge quake, which they claim was 6.7 but honestly, it felt a lot bigger than that. terrifying)

I hate earthquakes because I'm a bit traumatized by them... so I am glad I slept through this one. :o :)

bartelby

Feb 27, 2008, 01:42 AM

Sheffield UK just had an earthquake, wasn't big but I have never felt one before crazy.

An earthquake oop NORTH? That must have caused tens of Pounds worth of damage!! :p

Joking aside, I hope your whippets and pigeons are ok.

Jaffa Cake

Feb 27, 2008, 02:28 AM

An earthquake oop NORTH? That must have caused tens of Pounds worth of damage!! :pFair rattled the coal in the bath, so it did...

We were woken up by it just before 1am – the best way I can think to describe it was that it sounded like someone was tipping bricks and wood down the outside of our house, and it lasted for about ten seconds. Miss Jaffa Cake had the radio on and pretty soon the BBC were reporting it as being 4.7 in strength, with the epicentre about 30 miles south of 'Kingston on Hull [sic] in North Yorkshire [sic].' This information had come in from American earthquake monitors, apparently the British earthquake monitoring systems had been broken by the earthquake. :D

My immediate thought was whether we'd suffered any damage, but I decided that if part of our house had fallen down then it would still be fallen down in the morning, so I may as well go back to sleep and check it then. Still, it woke me up so I've decided that earthquakes are officially rubbish. :mad:

johny5

Feb 27, 2008, 02:41 AM

I live north of Lincoln and although now I understand it wasnt a big one, it was a big one for the UK.
Sound asleep at 5 to 1 and got woken up pretty abruptly with the bed shaking back and forth! the scary part for my wife and me was that we both sat up in bed to find the bed and the whole room swaying forwards and backwards by a couple of inches accompanied by a loud, very loud rumble!
I couldnt tell if i were dreaming at first, but then my wife was saying "what the hell is that!?" i shot out of bed and the room was still moving along with the rumble and she yelled that the bed was still rumbling too.

The house had an extension many years ago and to be honest I thought it was that, that had crashed down or what remains of the chimney stack on the roof (it had been half taken out by previous owners).
I slowly walked around the house expecting to find cracks or rubble somewhere and even opened the door to the extension on the first floor pretty wearily thinking that when i opened the bedroom door I might be looking outside and half the extension had gone! (it hadnt :) )

txted a friend a couple of miles away to realise he felt it to so I called him and he confirmed it. Switched on sky news and it was confirmed as an earthquake.

All in all shook me up to start with, after all I am an earthquake virgin :confused: but I feel for you guys in the west who have these regularly!

jordygreen

Feb 27, 2008, 03:16 AM

I felt it in Wakefield, was at about 1ish am. Was weird never been in one before...

richkent72

Feb 27, 2008, 04:24 AM

Another Sheffielder woken up by what Radio Sheffield (jokingly) refer to as 'The Big Quake of 08'. As usual, a small wobble by other country's standards and we all act like it's armageddon. :p

Mord

Feb 27, 2008, 04:26 AM

Was it caused by teh gheys (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=438492)?

Seriously, I hope you are all fine.

Possibly, I was being intimate with my girlfriend at the time :eek:

Never felt one before, it was weird having the ground move.

SpookTheHamster

Feb 27, 2008, 04:39 AM

I felt it here in Uxbridge. It was crazy. I was on the phone to my girlfriend when she started saying "I think my bed is shaking", I was just asking her if it could be her housemates messing around when my whole room shook. I was so surprised, I've never felt one like that before.

sircharles

Feb 27, 2008, 05:35 AM

I was sitting in front of my mac when my table started shaking, pc next to me with camera on the monitor dropped. shaken, not stirred. :)

Sheffield UK just had an earthquake, wasn't big but I have never felt one before crazy.

BoyBach

Feb 27, 2008, 06:37 AM

My immediate thought was whether we'd suffered any damage, but I decided that if part of our house had fallen down then it would still be fallen down in the morning, so I may as well go back to sleep and check it then. Still, it woke me up so I've decided that earthquakes are officially rubbish. :mad:

:D

Thank you for the laugh!

xUKHCx

Feb 27, 2008, 08:04 AM

I just discovered a crack in my ceiling and lots of grit down the left side of my bed right under the crack

My immediate thought was whether we'd suffered any damage, but I decided that if part of our house had fallen down then it would still be fallen down in the morning,

That is almost verbatum what I said to my housemate.

Markleshark

Feb 27, 2008, 08:09 AM

This information had come in from American earthquake monitors, apparently the British earthquake monitoring systems had been broken by the earthquake. :D

Priceless.

Hope no one suffered any significant damage. Less than the poor chap that now has a chimney sticking from him stomach anyway.

Didn't feel it up here. :cool: Sturdy you see, had to keep those pesky Scots out. ;)

alFR

Feb 27, 2008, 08:47 AM

Possibly, I was being intimate with my girlfriend at the time :eek:

Never felt one before, it was weird having the ground move.

That made me laugh during an otherwise dull day at work, thanks! :)

Stampyhead

Feb 27, 2008, 02:40 PM

The biggest I've been through was the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which was a 7.3 on the Richter Scale IIRC
I was in Sacramento for a music competition the day that happened. My grandmother (the biggest worrier you will ever meet) heard about the earthquake on the news and was all upset because she thought I might have been killed in the quake. She, not ever having been to California, didn't realize that Sacramento is almost 6 hours away from Northridge and couldn't even be felt up there.

IJ Reilly

Feb 27, 2008, 03:45 PM

I was in Sacramento for a music competition the day that happened. My grandmother (the biggest worrier you will ever meet) heard about the earthquake on the news and was all upset because she thought I might have been killed in the quake. She, not ever having been to California, didn't realize that Sacramento is almost 6 hours away from Northridge and couldn't even be felt up there.

I think somebody else may have already corrected me on this, but the Northridge quake clocked in at 6.7. It was still quite a ride.

RedTomato

Feb 27, 2008, 06:01 PM

I was sat on my red Ikea sofa, reading Macrumors on my macbook in north London when it happened.

Felt the sofa shaking slightly. Sorta as if someone was jumping up and down next door. I live in a prewar terraced house, solid as hell, but the floors do resonate a bit depending on what's happening next door.

I wondered briefly if someone was kicking in my front door, (which seems to be a common thing for UK people in earthquake situations... )

Put my hand on the wall, and felt it shaking and bouncing a little bit. Thought maybe it was late night roadworks outside. (yeah right at 1am, but I was pretty tired, and our street is actually being dug up for a watermains replacement)

Went to bed and didn't think anything of it.

Next morning see the earthquake news :eek: suddenly remember

1. my next door neighbour is a 70 year old woman who's not gonna be jumping around at 1am, and

2. that the wall I was holding last night is a 100 year old 2 foot thick stonework structural wall that holds up two houses and is not a wall that moves just cos it feels like it.

:eek::eek:

Earthquakes are cool :cool:

This earthquake brought me good luck - the post I was typing at the time became a front page main news article on MR!

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/27/next-macbook-and-macbook-pro-updates-in-june/

it's the second one down on the front page at the moment :)

tjcampbell

Feb 27, 2008, 06:34 PM

I was up in the loft so I REALLY felt it, but I thought it was awesome!

MacRumorUser

Feb 27, 2008, 06:35 PM

Earthquakes in Sheffy, Donny & 'Ull are the least of their problems ;)

I was up in the loft so I REALLY felt it, but I thought it was awesome!

I hope you washed your hands afterwards :o

Jaffa Cake

Feb 28, 2008, 07:43 AM

Earthquakes in Sheffy, Donny & 'Ull are the least of their problems ;)See, that's the thing. Last year we were devastated by floods, this year we've had an earthquake... I'm starting to feel like I'm living in a real-life version of Sim City. :o

The question is, will it be a Godzilla attack or alien invasion we have to look forward to in 2009?

iBlue

Feb 28, 2008, 07:54 AM

I think somebody else may have already corrected me on this, but the Northridge quake clocked in at 6.7. It was still quite a ride.
It felt so much bigger than that. (it felt a lot larger than the 7.1 in Loma Prieta, which I wasn't far from at the time either)

Did you hear the early radio reports? They said it was a 7.6 at first IIRC and then nervously announced that they were told it was 6.7 and that they were wrong. They sounded so strange about it. I am not usually the conspiracy theory type but I remember reading that anything over a 7.0 is classified as "Disastrous" and the government would have to shell out a lot more money to help out victims. IIRC the northridge quake ended up being the most costly (in damges for residents/business owners/road works/etc) in american history? It all just seems a bit odd.
</things that make you go 'hmmmmmm'>

Counterfit

Feb 28, 2008, 09:12 AM

In a way, the worst part was the aftershocks some of which were quite significant quakes on their own. We felt them for weeks afterwards and they mostly seemed to come in the middle of the night.
I've always equated aftershocks with having the dry heaves after you puke. :o
I felt it in Wakefield
I felt it here in Uxbridge

This had me all confused for a bit, and then I remembered that I live in NEW (and improved!) England. :rolleyes:

Also, there was a 6.0 (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2008/us2008nsa9/) in Nevada last week, and a 2.7 (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ld1021842.php) in New York yesterday.

IJ Reilly

Feb 28, 2008, 11:17 AM

It felt so much bigger than that. (it felt a lot larger than the 7.1 in Loma Prieta, which I wasn't far from at the time either)

Did you hear the early radio reports? They said it was a 7.6 at first IIRC and then nervously announced that they were told it was 6.7 and that they were wrong. They sounded so strange about it. I am not usually the conspiracy theory type but I remember reading that anything over a 7.0 is classified as "Disastrous" and the government would have to shell out a lot more money to help out victims. IIRC the northridge quake ended up being the most costly (in damges for residents/business owners/road works/etc) in american history? It all just seems a bit odd.
</things that make you go 'hmmmmmm'>

How you feel it is so much a question of where you are when it hits.

Obviously the 7.6 report was wrong. That would be a devastating earthquake by any standards. Buildings, bridges and roads would be wrecked over hundreds of square miles. I doubt anywhere in Britain even has that much seismic potential.

I've always equated aftershocks with having the dry heaves after you puke. :o

:o indeed!

6.0 (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2008/us2008nsa9/) in Nevada last week, and a 2.7 (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ld1021842.php) in New York yesterday.

If you're really interested in following seismic activity worldwide, find and download "QuakeBar." Every earthquake recorded by the USGS causes the icon in your menu bar to flash, and it can take you right to the USGS page for that quake.

MacBoobsPro

Feb 28, 2008, 11:23 AM

See, that's the thing. Last year we were devastated by floods, this year we've had an earthquake... I'm starting to feel like I'm living in a real-life version of Sim City. :o

The question is, will it be a Godzilla attack or alien invasion we have to look forward to in 2009?

As long as no one starts rearranging the hills and places a toxic waste dump next to our water supply we should be ok. We do need a better road system though!

iBlue

Feb 28, 2008, 11:34 AM

How you feel it is so much a question of where you are when it hits.

Obviously the 7.6 report was wrong. That would be a devastating earthquake by any standards. Buildings, bridges and roads would be wrecked over hundreds of square miles. I doubt anywhere in Britain even has that much seismic potential.

Woodland Hills for the Northridge, then in Santa Cruz for the Loma Prieta, so both cases I was very close to the epicenter. Both were pretty devastating regardless.

I am was quite comforted by the fact that England doesn't have much seismic activity.... at least not like other places have. 5.3 I can handle. :p

IJ Reilly

Feb 28, 2008, 12:11 PM

Woodland Hills for the Northridge, then in Santa Cruz for the Loma Prieta, so both cases I was very close to the epicenter. Both were pretty devastating regardless.

You seem like a nice person, but please, don't come to visit. :)

iBlue

Feb 28, 2008, 12:35 PM

You seem like a nice person, but please, don't come to visit. :)

^ I LOL'ed. :D

Californians should be safe now, I took the damn quakes with me. (Sorry, Britain) I'll put out a warning before I return. :p

IJ Reilly

Feb 28, 2008, 12:36 PM

^ I LOL'ed. :D

Californians should be safe now, I took the damn quakes with me. (Sorry, Britain) I'll put out a warning before I return. :p

I think you should be required to carry a warning sign.

Raid

Feb 28, 2008, 05:21 PM

I've always equated aftershocks with having the dry heaves after you puke. :o If you mean this stuff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftershock_(liqueur)) your assumption is pretty much spot on. ;)

I've only experienced one earthquake when I was 12 floors up sitting in an office chair on a hardwood floor. I heard a crash and bang (as something above me on the roof fell over), and it felt like the chair was getting nudged around by some unseen hand. Luckily nothing major was damaged I think it was under 4.0 on the scale.

Fuzzy14

Feb 28, 2008, 06:25 PM

Excuse me, some necessary jokes I have to get out the way first...

An earthquake oop NORTH? That must have caused tens of Pounds worth of damage!! :p
Apparently caused £20 million of improvements!:D

Didn't feel it up here. :cool: Sturdy you see, had to keep those pesky Scots out. ;)

Then why are you building a road to our border? Are you trying to help us steal your sheep? Are you lot not kiddy-on Scots anyway, I see Berwick was looking to return to the fold (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7237802.stm) do you lot not want to join them?

Anyway, I wouldn't be joking if there were any serious injuries, but I did find it a bit comical that it was lead news although there was just the one broken leg. If you want to see the charts of the quake, have a look at the British Geological Survey (http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/).
There are quite a lot of earthquakes in Britain, they are just normally to weak to feel them.

Here's an idea. There are 12 monitoring stations across Britain, mostly comprising on accelerometers burried in the ground in a drum. Their locations are given on the BGS site. This is what one looks like (my local one in Paisley.)
http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/monitoring/pgb_1.jpg
Why don't we get people across the country all, at a pre-arranged a time, to jump up and down at the same time next to one! :D

Jaffa Cake

Feb 28, 2008, 06:28 PM

IJ Reilly

Feb 28, 2008, 07:32 PM

I'm going to smack the next person who asks me if the Earth moved for me the other night. It wasn't especially funny the first time, but now I'm heartily sick of people congratulating themselves on their originality when they share this particular gag. :mad:

Why do you think they call it a "gag"?

Fortunately, nobody says that about earthquakes around here -- or there'd be a whole lot of smacking going on.

joepunk

Feb 29, 2008, 10:25 AM

I'm going to smack the next person who asks me if the Earth moved for me the other night. It wasn't especially funny the first time, but now I'm heartily sick of people congratulating themselves on their originality when they share this particular gag. :mad:

"Did the Earth move for you?" "No, but the model sure did." MST 3000 quote

couldn't resist :p

Markleshark

Feb 29, 2008, 10:27 AM

I'm going to smack the next person who asks me if the Earth moved for me the other night. It wasn't especially funny the first time, but now I'm heartily sick of people congratulating themselves on their originality when they share this particular gag. :mad:

It was on the front page of our paper. Thankfully I read only the small words on the back page.

Jaffa Cake

Feb 29, 2008, 02:17 PM

It was on the front page of our paper. Thankfully I read only the small words on the back page.Indeed, ours carried the same predictable headline. This sort of thing is clearly a godsend for lazy sub-editors all across the country. :p

I generally don't read the little words on the back by the way, they're generally about rugby or something.