The largest earthquake for 25 years was felt in Britain in the early hours of this morning. Its epicentre was in Lincolnshire and the tremors were felt as far down as London.
The earthquake measured about 5 on the Richter scale:
Richter
Magnitude
Intensity
2
Usually not felt, but detected by instruments.
Felt by very few people.
3
Felt by many, often mistaken for a passing vehicle.
Felt by many indoors, dishes and doors disturbed.
4 Felt by nearly everyone. People awakened. Cracked walls, trees disturbed.
5 Felt by all. Many run outdoors. Furniture moves. Slight damage occurs.
Everyone runs outdoors. Poorly built buildings suffer severe damage.
Slight damage every where else.
6 Everyone runs outdoors. Moderate to major damage.
Minor damage to specially designed buildings. Chimneys and walls collapse.
7
All buildings suffer major damage. Ground cracks, pipes break, foundations shift.
Major damage. Structures destroyed. Ground is badly cracked. Landslides occur.
8
Almost all structures fall. Bridges wrecked. Very wide cracks in ground.
Total destruction. Ground surface waves seen.
Objects thrown into the air. All constructiion destroyed.
You can see an animated explanation of why earthquakes happen by going on
this BBC website. Click here to find out more about why the earthquake happened.
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