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Britons shaken out of bed by quake
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 The Straits Times
MANCHESTER - BRITAIN experienced its biggest earthquake for a quarter of a century early yesterday with tremors measuring 5.2 felt across England. Cupboard doors flew open, frightened children were shaken from their sleep and people stumbled from their homes dressed in pyjamas and nightgowns as the quake struck about 1am. 'It was scary,' Mr David Somerset told AP by telephone from Driffield, East Yorkshire, around 96km from the quake's epicentre. 'It was a strange sensation as the room, ornaments and chest of drawers started wobbling and making a loud rumbling noise.' The epicentre was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, about 205km north of London.

'There was a rumble and then we heard a bang and my son screaming 'dad',' the boy's father, Mr Paul Bates, told the BBC about his son David, 19. The teen was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery.

No deaths were reported.

Mr Julian Bukits of the British Geological Survey called it the most powerful quake in Britain since a 5.4 tremor hit North Wales in 1984.

'This was a very large earthquake in UK terms, but in world terms average,' said Mr Bukits, adding that Britain is hit annually by about 200 quakes of which only 10 per cent can be felt.

ASSOCIATED PRESS