Manchester is shaken by small earthquake
Rushda:
August 10th, 2007
At 11.50am this morning, a small earthquake rocked various parts of Greater Manchester, felt by inhabitants in not only the centre of Manchester but Reddish, Didsbury, Failsworth and Denton as well. Though the earthquake was a relatively minor one, only measuring 2.5 on the Richter Scale, many experienced the tremors. Seismologists at the British Geological Survey (BGS) are glad to note that there have been no reports of injury or damage.
BGS have explained that these earthquakes are not uncommon and there are eight or nine every year in Britain. A similar earthquake hit Manchester five years ago but it was much more severe and measured 3.9 on the Richter Scale. Witnesses to this morning’s earthquakes say that they felt the ground shake. A man who was in the city centre working at the time says:
“The ground kind of shook. It felt a bit like there was a bus parked outside but a bit stronger. Everyone just looked round at each other and was like, ‘Did you just feel that or was it just me?’ I didn’t really feel frightened, just a bit confused.”
Another witness said:
“I was working away quite happily until I felt the building shake. I felt the floor move and heard the beams creak. It started at one end of the room and went came through to where I was sitting, and the big filing cabinet next to where I was sitting was shaking. It was really quite impressive.”
Experts have reassured the public that there is nothing to be alarmed about. As Ernest Rutter, professor of structural geology at the University of Manchester, has said:
“It’s very small tremor, right on the edge of being felt, although obviously quite a lot of people did. They are fairly common in Manchester. In 2002 we had a swarm of them, which is a number of earthquakes of about the same size over a period of time - from October and extended until just after Christmas. There were about 110 - 120 during that time and about 30 of them were felt.”
The earthquake has been described as “insignificant.” What is most shocking perhaps is the fact that the earthquake which caused the Asian Tsunami on Boxing day in 2004 was actually 800 million times greater than what was experienced by many in Manchester this morning. One can only imagine how terrifying that must have been when compared.