2008 Lincolnshire earthquake
 Hampshire
Newcastle upon Tyne
 |
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| Date | 27 February 2008 |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 5.2 ML |
| Depth | 18.6 kilometres (12 mi) |
| Epicenter | 53°24′14″N 0°19′52″W / 53.404°N 0.331°WCoordinates: 53°24′14″N 0°19′52″W / 53.404°N 0.331°W |
| Areas affected | United Kingdom |
| Max. intensity | VI (Slightly Damaging) |
| Casualties | 1 injured |
The 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake struck Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom, on 27 February at 00:56:47.8s GMT. According to the British Geological Survey, the earthquake registered a reading of 5.2 on the Richter scale with the epicentre 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Market Rasen and 15 miles (24 km) south-west of Grimsby.
The duration of the earthquake was confirmed as roughly 10 seconds.
The tremors were felt across a wide area of England and Wales, from Hampshire in the south to Newcastle upon Tyne in the north, and as far west as Bangor, Northern Ireland. It was also perceptible in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the far north of France. Structural damage was recorded in some areas, including one case where a chimney collapsed and injured a person in Wombwell, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
The 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake was caused by the sudden rupture and motion along a strike-slip fault, 18.6 kilometres (12 mi) beneath Lincolnshire. Earthquake motion occurred over a time span of ~2 minutes but it was most intense and was felt at the surface for just 10 to 30 seconds; maximum vertical ground motion at the epicentre of the earthquake was only ~1 mm. Computer calculations carried out by the British Geological Survey (BGS) imply sinistral motion on a N–S or dextral motion on a E–W oriented strike-slip fault. The nine aftershocks observed, ~5 kilometres (3 mi) SSW of the main earthquake event, point to an approximately N–S oriented fault. From the 5.2 ML magnitude of the main earthquake, a motion of a few centimetres along a ~2.5 kilometres (2 mi) long fault rupture is derived. The energy released was 3.98×1012joules (equal to the detonation of ~950 tonnes of TNT).
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