Did the earth move for you...?

Earthquakes... not really something you associate with the UK. When I think of earthquakes I tend to think of Asia and America, but following last night's tremor I did a little digging around. Yes I am that much of a geek.

Earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates beneath the earth's surface. This gives off a seismic wave that shakes or displaces the earth itself. There are twelve of these plates across the globe's surface and when the rock shifts beneath it, it causes an earthquake.

How Earthquakes happen

Apparently, Britain has at least 200 hundred tremors a year, but not all of these are felt. The last one I remember is the 2002 Dudley one. That one measured at 5.0 on the Richter scale and shook the entire house like it had been hit by a bomb.

Dudley Epicentre 2002 - Keele University Geophysics Department

The one last night was larger, at 5.2 according to the British Geological Survey, but because the epicentre was in Lincolnshire we only really got the tail end of it. That said it was scary as hell. I woke up at around 1am, my entire bed shaking.

Seismic Activity in Lincolnshire 27 Feb 2008 - Daily Telegraph

The largest earthquake the UK has ever seen was in 1931, off the coast of Great Yarmouth, and measured 6.1. It's not even a patch on the 2004 earthquake in the Indian Ocean that caused the tsunami over Indonesia. That was 9.2 and caused the deaths of thousands of people.

But, earthquakes are a strange phenomenon. Indonesia is prone to them because of an area called the Pacific Ring of Fire. This horse shoe shape is said to be an area of frequent natural plate activity. This is one of the reasons they have so many volcanic eruptions and quakes.

The most deadly earthquake ever recorded was in 1556, in Shaanix, China. over 800,000 people were allegedly killed in the quake, although the official numbers are unknown. Modern day seismologists have deciphered that Shaanix was an 8 on the Richter scale and that aftershocks plagued the country for almost six months after the initial quake.

The United States Geological Survey records lists of quakes and it's rather scary to look at how many the world has. Try at least one major earthquake every year. But it's not just the quake itself that causes problems, but the movement of the plates can cause landslides, volcanic eruptions or tsunami's.