Earthquake felt across parts of England

MANCHESTER,England-An earthquake struck Britain early Wednesday and was felt across large parts of the country. Police reported some minor damage to homes but no injuries.The 4.7-magnitude quake struck at about 1 a.m. and was centered about 125 miles north of London, according to the U.S. Geological Survey."It was scary," David Somerset told The Associated Press by telephone from Driffield, around 60 miles from the epicenter. He was working on the computer at the time."It was a strange sensation as the room, ornaments and chest of drawers started wobbling and making a loud rumbling noise," he said.Many other people in southern, central and northern England reported feeling their homes shaken by the earthquake in a country where such tremors are uncommon.Lincolnshire police said they had received dozens of phone calls about the temblor and that some minor damage to homes had been reported.The North West Ambulance service said its crews had also reported feeling the quake but had received "no actual calls from the public," said a spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the service's policy.John Jenkin of Bourne said the jolt knocked objects from the shelves of his home."I was woken up. It was hell," he said.A woman in Notting Hill, a wealthy section of London, reported that her radio was bumping up and down on a shelf for several seconds.A quake of magnitude 4.7 is capable of causing moderate to considerable damage. The BBC said between 150 and 200 quakes occur in Britain annually, but only 10 percent are strong enough to be felt.
On the Net: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008nyae.php

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_re_eu/britain_quake

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