Post by odm on Dec 27, 2006 14:07:48 GMT
Hi Everyone..I just looked at google as I was logging in and saw this news.
THREE POINT FIVE ON THE RICHTER SCALE
CHRISTMAS QUAKE ROCKS DUMFRIES
By Ian Dow
DUMFRIES was rocked by an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale yesterday.
Panicked residents made hundreds of emergency calls as their houses shook violently at about 10.45am.
The tremor lasted for about 10 seconds and was felt for about 20 miles around the town.Garry McMillan, of Brooms Road, Dumfries, was woken by the quake. He said: "I came rushing downstairs to find the Christmas tree leaning over and decorations all over the floor."In shops, the tremor sent stocks tumbling from shelves.Mum-of-two Trisha McLaughlan, of Dumfries, was in her kitchen doing the dishes when she felt the tremor.
The 37-year-old classroom assistant said: "I heard this almighty bang and then felt the house shake.
"We live on the main road into town and my first thought was that a lorry had left the road and hit the side of our house.
"We went outside and saw our neighbours milling around.
"My mum across town felt it too. And my cousin, who lives two miles away, also reported it.
"Her neighbour's kitchen cupboards swung open with the shaking.
"I wouldn't say I was scared but it was certainly surprising.
It's not something you'd expect in Dumfries."
Marie Brown, a receptionist at the town's Station Hotel, said: "I was sitting in the bar downstairs and all of a sudden I thought there was a convoy of trucks going past. But it didn't stop.
"The walls started shaking and I became frightened.My fiance is a builder and he looked at me and said, 'This isn't good', but then it stopped."
Elaine Murray, Labour MSP for Dumfries, thought someone upstairs had fallen out of bed.
She said: "I ran upstairs to see if everyone was OK."
Campbell Douglas of Troqueer, Dumfries, was at the Stoop shopping complex on Lockerbie Road in the town when the tremor struck.
He said: "The whole building shook for just a few seconds.
There was a loud bang and the building moved from side to side.
"I phoned my wife at home. She thought my big video collection had collapsed upstairs and caused the bang."
Barry John Mulholland and Allan Anderson were working in a burger van nearby. Barry said: "The whole van started rocking and I thought it was kids trying to turn it over.
"It only lasted a few seconds but it was frightening. You could see people coming out of the shops wondering what was going on. There was a loud bang and the buildings were shaking."
David Kennedy, of Dumfries, whose wife Emily gave birth to a Christmas Day baby, said: "We were all in the house at the time when there was a loud bang and I thought a lorry had crashed into the wall.
Everything in the cupboards was shaking and rattling about."
Retired teacher Meg Edgar, who lives on the outskirts of Dumfries, said it was "really frightening". She added: "I thought somebody was trying to break in through the roof."
Bennett Simpson is a seismologist with the British Geological Survey.
He said: "The UK has been quite quiet this year but we expect about two earthquakes of this magnitude a year.
"We have taken calls from the Dumfries area reporting windows rattling, houses shaking and hearing a large bang."
The tremor was felt as far away as Castle Douglas, Crossmichael, Lockerbie, Annan and further north in Thornhill.
Police said their phone lines had been jammed with calls from people reporting the tremor.
A Dumfries police spokesman said: "We felt it here and it lasted for about 10 seconds. We weren't sure what it was, then the phones started ringing." No serious damage or injuries were reported, he said.
Yesterday's tremor came exactly 27 years after one of the largest quakes of the last century was felt in the area.
The epicentre of the 4.5 magnitude Boxing Day earthquake of 1979 was near Longtown, just north of Carlisle in Cumbria.
But it was felt over an area of 45,000 square miles, covering central Scotland, the Borders and Cumbria, and sparked scenes of panic similar to yesterday.
I hope if any of our Fakers live in these areas that they are ok..
THREE POINT FIVE ON THE RICHTER SCALE
CHRISTMAS QUAKE ROCKS DUMFRIES
By Ian Dow
DUMFRIES was rocked by an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale yesterday.
Panicked residents made hundreds of emergency calls as their houses shook violently at about 10.45am.
The tremor lasted for about 10 seconds and was felt for about 20 miles around the town.Garry McMillan, of Brooms Road, Dumfries, was woken by the quake. He said: "I came rushing downstairs to find the Christmas tree leaning over and decorations all over the floor."In shops, the tremor sent stocks tumbling from shelves.Mum-of-two Trisha McLaughlan, of Dumfries, was in her kitchen doing the dishes when she felt the tremor.
The 37-year-old classroom assistant said: "I heard this almighty bang and then felt the house shake.
"We live on the main road into town and my first thought was that a lorry had left the road and hit the side of our house.
"We went outside and saw our neighbours milling around.
"My mum across town felt it too. And my cousin, who lives two miles away, also reported it.
"Her neighbour's kitchen cupboards swung open with the shaking.
"I wouldn't say I was scared but it was certainly surprising.
It's not something you'd expect in Dumfries."
Marie Brown, a receptionist at the town's Station Hotel, said: "I was sitting in the bar downstairs and all of a sudden I thought there was a convoy of trucks going past. But it didn't stop.
"The walls started shaking and I became frightened.My fiance is a builder and he looked at me and said, 'This isn't good', but then it stopped."
Elaine Murray, Labour MSP for Dumfries, thought someone upstairs had fallen out of bed.
She said: "I ran upstairs to see if everyone was OK."
Campbell Douglas of Troqueer, Dumfries, was at the Stoop shopping complex on Lockerbie Road in the town when the tremor struck.
He said: "The whole building shook for just a few seconds.
There was a loud bang and the building moved from side to side.
"I phoned my wife at home. She thought my big video collection had collapsed upstairs and caused the bang."
Barry John Mulholland and Allan Anderson were working in a burger van nearby. Barry said: "The whole van started rocking and I thought it was kids trying to turn it over.
"It only lasted a few seconds but it was frightening. You could see people coming out of the shops wondering what was going on. There was a loud bang and the buildings were shaking."
David Kennedy, of Dumfries, whose wife Emily gave birth to a Christmas Day baby, said: "We were all in the house at the time when there was a loud bang and I thought a lorry had crashed into the wall.
Everything in the cupboards was shaking and rattling about."
Retired teacher Meg Edgar, who lives on the outskirts of Dumfries, said it was "really frightening". She added: "I thought somebody was trying to break in through the roof."
Bennett Simpson is a seismologist with the British Geological Survey.
He said: "The UK has been quite quiet this year but we expect about two earthquakes of this magnitude a year.
"We have taken calls from the Dumfries area reporting windows rattling, houses shaking and hearing a large bang."
The tremor was felt as far away as Castle Douglas, Crossmichael, Lockerbie, Annan and further north in Thornhill.
Police said their phone lines had been jammed with calls from people reporting the tremor.
A Dumfries police spokesman said: "We felt it here and it lasted for about 10 seconds. We weren't sure what it was, then the phones started ringing." No serious damage or injuries were reported, he said.
Yesterday's tremor came exactly 27 years after one of the largest quakes of the last century was felt in the area.
The epicentre of the 4.5 magnitude Boxing Day earthquake of 1979 was near Longtown, just north of Carlisle in Cumbria.
But it was felt over an area of 45,000 square miles, covering central Scotland, the Borders and Cumbria, and sparked scenes of panic similar to yesterday.
I hope if any of our Fakers live in these areas that they are ok..
<<FAKER No. 352>>{=}http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/Bluebellberries/Pensive.gif{/=}
{=}http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/Hsalc/Fakers/Where.gif{/=}
{=}http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/Bluebellberries/Where.gif{/=}
[I
