2.9M earthquake in Winchester, southern England: 'Mystery' loud boom?

[Jono]

Winchester earthquake: Tremor felt in Hampshire

Regulars at the South Wonston Social Club described the moment they felt the earth tremor

An earthquake with a magnitude of 2.9 has been recorded in Hampshire, the British Geological Survey has confirmed.

Postings on social media reported buildings in the Winchester area shaking following a tremor shortly after 18:30 GMT.

A police spokeswoman said no injuries or serious damage had been reported.

Matthew Emery, from South Wonston, near Winchester described the experience as "almost as if Concorde had flown over".

The British Geological Survey (Bgs) reported a tremor at a depth of 3km (1.9miles) at Headbourne Worthy, just north east of Winchester.

BGS Seismologist David Galloway said the UK experienced about 10 quakes of such a size each year which were "usually quite widely felt around the area".

"We live on a dynamic planet. We're actually sitting in the middle of one of the plates on the earth's crust, but because of the stresses caused by all the movement, we still get little earthquakes in the UK."

The BGS said it had received a report from a residents who said "the whole bed was visibly shaking" as well as one who said the earthquake sounded "like a bus" crashing "into the neighbours house at speed".

Hampshire Constabulary said it had initially received lots of calls from concerned residents in the Kingsworthy area following reports of something which "felt like an explosion which shook their houses".

Residents also took to social media to describe what happened.

Rowland Rees tweeted: "Quake felt in Crawley, Winchester. Whole house shook for a few seconds!"

And Jen Gupta said in a tweet: "Our house in Winchester just shook enough to rattle glasses in the cupboard, accompanied by a boom sound."

Rachel Cristofoli, in Kings Worthy, said: "Everyone felt it and came outside to see what was going on. It lasted about 5 seconds, but the houses all shook from top to bottom."

Brook Ethridge, barmaid at the South Wonston Social Club, said: "About half past six, I was sitting reading my book and all the glasses started shaking. It sounded like someone had driven into the back of the club.

"Everyone ran outside, couldn't see anything. It doesn't sound like the sort of thing that happens in a quiet little place - you just don't expect it."

 

[Seaniebawn]

Re: Winchester earthquake: Tremor felt in Hampshire (with boom sound)

Was just about to post this also, the loud boom sound's suspect all right, overhead cometary explosion maybe?

 

[Niall]

Another one:

​‘Like a bomb had gone off!’ 3.8 magnitude quake hits UK, 2nd this week

For the second time in a week, parts of the UK have felt the earth shaking beneath their feet as yet another quake was recorded, this time in the East Midlands, measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale.

The quake, which the British Geological Survey (BGS) confirmed took place at 22:25 GMT on Wednesday, follows a slightly smaller quake which struck parts of Hampshire on Tuesday, where vibrations of 2.9 were measured.

The epicenter of the quake was near the town of Oakham in Rutland, where locals reported vibrations lasting for nearly 10 seconds.

One resident told the BGS it “sounded like a really large bomb had just gone off” and reported a “buildup of rumbling and the house shook really violently.”

Another said the quake was “like a loud explosion.”

The BGS said they had over 1,400 reports from people who said they had felt the tremors from Oakham, with residents from as far afield as Dudley and Huddersfield also claiming to have experienced the quake.

One apparently overexcited resident of Grantham, Lincolnshire, likened the event to a scene from Jurassic Park.

“I could see rings in my glass of wine! A bit like in Jurassic Park when the T-Rex chases the car!”

Others affected by the tremors took to Twitter to share their experiences.

While some claimed to have been seriously affected, others thought the whole experience was more than a little amusing, with some users calling for Red Cross relief parcels.

There have been no reports of injuries or fatalities.