Were you woken by the quake?
Wednesday 27th February 2008, 11:59AM GMT.
Part of a building collapsed and hundreds of people were woken as Shropshire felt the effects of an earthquake which rocked Britain.
The earthquake occurred just before 1am, with its epicentre about 4km north of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire – and it is people mainly living in the east and north of Shropshire, nearest the epicentre, who have reported feeling tremors.
John Jones, of The Rock, Ketley, said: “I woke suddenly at about 1am because my bed was rocking violently.
“I had not come to my senses and was staring at a picture shaking about on the wall – I thought it was a poltergeist – and then the caravan alarm went off. “It must have lasted more than two minutes,” said the 51-year-old.
Ildi Berry, from Randlay, Telford, said: “It was really scary. I suffer with a bad back so my husband Rainer had gone to sleep in another room.
“My wardrobe doors are very loose and they were rattling so much I thought it was a poltergeist.
“Then an aircraft flew very low over the house and I thought it might be that exploding. I shouted so loud my husband came running in. It was something I have never experienced before.”
The earthquake was felt strongly around Market Drayton, where part of a chimney collapsed. North Shropshire District Council spokesman Ben Proctor said a chimney in Jeffro’s Bar, High Street, had partially collapsed, leaving rubble on the road and causing a potential threat to public safety.
“The road is closed and will remain closed until the building can be made safe,” he said. “We are going to work to make the building safe as soon as possible but it’s a three-storey building so just erecting scaffolding could take some time.
“The owners, builders and insurers are on their way and we will work to get the street made safe.”
Mr Proctor advised people who own older properties to check for damage.
Angela Proudlock, from Malinslee, said she was scared by the tremors when her bed started shaking. “My little dog was scared,” she said. “I looked over at him in his bed and his head was shaking like one of those little nodding dogs.”
Rob Clemson, from The Rock, said he was lying on the sofa just before 1am when he started to feel the vibrations.
“I thought it was something wrong with my legs because they were twitching due to the sofa vibrating,” he said.
Julie Hunt, from Admaston, said: “It must have lasted about eight seconds and it was an exhilarating feeling. I wasn’t scared. It was more exciting, really.”
Tania Taylor, of Stirchley Park, Telford, said: “My boyfriend and I had fallen asleep watching television when we woke up all of a sudden. The window and bedroom door were shaking and I thought it was a fierce gust of wind.”
Hayley Rollings, of Hook Farm, Bridgnorth, said: “The earthquake woke me up. My keys in the back door and all my picture frames on the wall were shaking. It was a really weird feeling.”
Lisa Bailey, who lives with her husband and young son in Kynnersley, near Newport, said she was woken up by the tremors.
“I woke up and thought there was something on the roof to start off with and then the whole house started shaking and the floorboards were creaking,” she said. “It lasted a matter of seconds.”
David Parsons, of Copthorne, Shrewsbury, said: “I was asleep in bed and I was woken by a shaking feeling. The doors and the ornaments were rattling.”
Debbie Blackham, from Market Drayton, said: “I had just got into bed when my bed starting shaking quite violently and the whole room rattled. It was quite frightening.
“I realised it was an earthquake and immediately switched on the TV to confirm I wasn’t imagining things.”
Andy Thelwell, from Whitchurch, said: “The earthquake was felt in Whitchurch for 15 seconds or more at 12.58am. It was quite aggressive.”
Many readers also contacted the Shropshire Star’s website, including Katie Hill, of Shifnal. She said: “The bookcases started shaking and you could feel it under your feet. It only lasted for five seconds though. I called a friend and he also felt it so it wasn’t our house falling down!”
And Pat Jones, of Wellington, said: “I heard a loud noise and my bed shook.”
Most people in South Shropshire were blissfully unaware of the quake.
Police in the south of the county and South Shropshire District Council reported receiving no calls from the public.
A Shrewsbury police spokesman said: “In the call room the desks shuddered and it was quite unsettling.
“We received a call at 12.59am from somebody in the Copthorne area who felt their house shake. “We got a call at 1.04am and 1.06am and then received a number of calls from people in Shropshire.”
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my wife was but i never heard a thing in Gains Park,Shrewsbury !!
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Was this realy an earth quake, or could this have been somthing much more sinister. Come on Gordon Brown what are you up to?
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iwas in bed and i felt the quake the bed moved and i heard the rumble it was quiet loud
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I heard a loud noise and my bed shook. I looked at the clock and it was 12.57.
I went to my front window to see if any of my neighbours were up but I seemed to be the only one!
This occured in Wellington
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i was woken by quake ivy house paddocks ketley
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I think Atcham Bob may be right, look at cover up the goverment has done on the murder of princess Diana.
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I was asleep when it first started but it woke me up and it sounded as though a large articulated truck had hurtled up the road followed by the bed shaking. It was a strange sensation and left me rather confused and half asleep!
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I slept straight through it, woke up to a text from my friend and didnt have a clue what he was talking about, he he!!
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I think it was Lord Asriel breaking through to another world via the Northern Lights
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i was up with my 3month old daughter, i thought my husband was prating around in our room but when i went in there he was asleep and never felt a thing, men eh. this was in ternhill, market drayton
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largest eathquake for nearly 25 years? well i remember one in shropshire that happened about 17 years ago. never heard the one last night by the way.
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I was in bed and it woke me up, my boyfriend was downstairs and he heard it too. We live in Heronsgate Shrewsbury
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Jake,
I have a simple prescription to cure Di-related paranoia – take one less Daily Express per day…
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I am a student live Bolton. I was sitting on a chair around 1am when the chair began to shake, then I realised the whole room was shaking!
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i had just climbed into bed shortly after 1am and it quite violently shook my bed and wardrobe, my boyfriend was downstairs and it shook the sofa he was on. We live in stoke on trent, staffordshire.
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I was too pie eyed last night to hear or feel it.
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I was in bed and had just woken, I actually thought my husband was shaking, scared me a bit because I thought something was wrong with my husband. Then heard the news this morning. I live in Ruyton-X1-Towns , between Shrewsbury and Oswestry.
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It woke me up, but my 16 month old daughter slept right through it when normally the slightest noise wakes her up. My husband jumped out of bed from being asleep but said he did not feel or hear anything as still half asleep but he was not sure what made him jump out of bed.
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The previous one in Shropshire, mentioned by Jeepy, was 2nd April 1990 but I was out of the country so don’t know how strong it was.
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Peter
This is not paranoia, we have no idea what this secretive government is up to, I am taking great person risks speaking out about this.
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Thank goodness it was an earthquake, I’ve just got to work and they were talking all about it!
Thought I was having one bad dream as woke up at 12.57 (according to my clock) to my bed moving and my mirror was ratling for approx. 10 seconds – did think that either a) I was having a really far out weird dream or b) a lorry had hit the house!!!
Sat up for a while noone else in the street was moving and nothing else seemed to happen so went back to bed to sleep!!
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Quite right Jeepy, I was 7 and at school when the 1990 earthquake occured,we were all evacuated to the playground and eventually we all sent home a whole 15 minutes early.Happy days!!
All the ornaments in my bedroom had broken from the tremor, and it measured 5.4 on the richter scale.
I live in Manchester now and we certainly felt the tremor last night, scared the living daylights out of my cats!!
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I am surprised that all of the county’s schools are open today, following the quake. And, apparently, the trains are running too!
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The quake in 1990 was not as strong as the one in 1984 when I wondered if our house was about to collapse. There is chaos today in Market Drayton as the whole of the road in the High Street has been closed leading to diversions round very tiny roads. It sounds as though it will be closed until a chimney can be demolished. So we will wait for the insurers to say they will pay, the scaffolders to put up the scaffolding and the builders to do the job. The last time building debris tumbled into a road, in Cheshire Street, was just before Christmas 2006 and it still hasn’t been fixed. More of the same, I wonder
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Someones been watching too much ‘Spooks’…
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Well the earth moved for me last night!
But I must be getting old as I’m sure it used to last more than a few seconds.
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Jake – Get a life and start living in the real world
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The earth moved for me too.
Wellington.
And my family laughed at me and said i had imagined it.
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Bob & Jake, i hope you’re being satirical!
Slept straight through as per, but alot of other people along my estate (Stirchley, Telford) said they felt some movements.
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Was fast asleep and never heard a thing, woke up to several texts from friends this morning.
I remember the Earthquake a few years ago where the epicentre was in Dudley. That one was 5 on the Richter Scale.
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I was in bed when the house shook. the doors rattled and I heard a rumble. I was listening to Beacon Radio and was relieved to hear that other people had also confirmed that they had felt the tremor. Quite scary
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I don’t believe that there was really an earthquake – I was still awake watching telly until half 1 and I didn’t feel anything!!
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I was woken in Shifnal by my bed shaking and bottles of perfume vibrating.
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I heard a rumour that it wasn’t really an earthquake. Was actually a friend of mine Chris Barlow falling out of bed, sending shockwaves through the country…
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My wife and I were having intimate relations, I thought I was doing rather quite well, until I watched GMTV this morning!
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I rolled over and smacked my partner as I thought he was shaking the bed in his sleep!!!! bless him, think I need to apologise!
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Is that what it was ?
I slipped on the stairs and blamed it on the White Lightning I had been drinking all evening.
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Both me and my girlfriend were wide awake at the time, sitting quietly surfing the net together, and yet we felt nothing at all!
We’re in Donnington Park (in-between Asda & Lyreco), and can’t figure out how so many other people felt it, yet we didn’t.
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I’d been in bed about 5 mins and the police chopper was over our area which was irritating…then there was a weird high pitched noise and the bed started shaking … I sat up and said to my husband “what was that?” He replied “mmgggpphhh…mmnnnttwww” I honestly thought for a split second that the helicopter must’ve hit something!
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The quake shook my baby African Grey off his sleeping pot. I slept through it. My partner was working in the study when the house shook. I couldn’t get back to sleep for ages after his shouts of fear got me up to investigate.
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I was left very nervous after the quake. there was a very loud and surging rumbling sound and everything in my bedroom was shaking. Including my bed… Very frightening
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I’d been in bed a couple of hours and woke to my bed shaking, I thought I’d imagined it until I saw the news today.
I’m in Greenfields, Shrewsbury.
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Didn’t feel, hear or see anything in Priorslee
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I was awake watching the news and i thought to myself that sounds like a train coming, odd really because were 12 miles or so from a railway. The whole house shook and the tremor rumbled through the estate, waking some of the neighbours. It took about ten minutes to hit the headlines on sky news. Market Drayton rocks!
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I was awake, sober and never felt or heard a thing – St Georges.
I am probably too high up to feel the benefits of such a quake.
I can remember the last one because I was in woodwork class at school and all the windows started shaking, we all hid under the work benches in case the glass came in.
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How many different ways are there of saying that you were in bed and the room shook for about a second?
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I woke and felt the bed shaking,i just thought i had been dreaming until i heard the news today,gosh it was weird.
Myddle
Shrewsbury
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I felt and heard the rumble in Wolverhampton!
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i was on my laptop in bed at the time…heard a faint rumble which grew louder ,like a train approaching and then the room started to shake …came in from the west wall and out through the east wall,shook me the bed and the wardrobe,i’m in burwarton,south shropshire…
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I was working late in my office when I noticed the monitor shaking.
I was a bit surprised as I hadn’t banged the desk, moments later my daughter who lives next door came in to see me and said did you feel the earthquake. That’s when I realised why the computer monitor had been shaking. Within a couple of minutes I had an e-mail from my brother lives in Birmingham who was also working late, obviously a family trait, he also had felt the tremor. He rang me a couple of minutes later, we had a chat about it and then I went to bed.
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No
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i thought i was making the earth move for the wife—-how wrong can you be
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