Earthquake Hits UK - England Gets Earth Tremor
There I was merrily minding my own business last night when an earthquake hit Britain and made me feel like the house was about to collapse. Okay, it was only a minor earth tremor in the big scheme of things, but this is the UK, and earthquakes are not regular occurrences. In fact, this is the first one since 2001, and the first I have ever experienced.
I was actually sitting in the bath at the time, reading a book, and looking forward to bed when the earthquake hit at 12.56am. The bath was probably the worst place to be, as I could feel the water shaking around me, and actually thought the whole unit was going to rip apart and leave me on the floor in a puddle of water.
It’s a really weird experience as not being used to quakes in the UK, it’s not the first thing that goes through your mind. I thought the guy upstairs was banging about at first, and then when the tremor stopped, wondered what on earth could have caused it. Luckily my girlfriend explained, having been in the area when the 2001 one hit, and knowing the signs.
On that occasion, she was in the shower and fell on her arse after the earthquake made her slip one way while the bathtub slipped the other. And this one was stronger, estimated to be between 4.7 and 5.3 on the Richter Scale.
The United States Geological Survey recorded the quake on its website, and the British Geological Survey then upped the rating, whilst reporting that the epicentre of the tremor was 205km outside of London, which places it firmly near Manchester, where I currently live.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
If the building had fallen about your ears the bath would have been one of the safest places to be, albeit not unembarrassing.
Glad to hear you’re OK and that you are a now an expert of the effects of earthquakes upon bathwater.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:57 am
You were… taking a bath… *cough* gay *cough*. I hope you enjoyed the rose petals
Seriously though, that’s weird.