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Earthquake felt right across Wharfedale
Householders across the district were shaken from their slumber in the early hours of today following the biggest earthquake to hit Britain in the last 25 years.
Reports flooded in to Wharfedale Newspapers today as news of the magnitude 5.2 quake spread.
One woman, from Burley-in-Wharfedale, said: "I was awake when it happened. It had been very windy just before it and I wasn't able to sleep.
"I heard a lot of dogs barking and wondered what was going on. Suddenly the whole building started to shake and my books began to fly off the bookcase.
"It only lasted a few seconds but I got quite a fright. It took a while for me to realise what had happened."
Police and Fire Services in West Yorkshire said they received dozens of calls from worried residents around 12.55am but had no reports of any serious damage or injury.
A spokesman for the British Geological Survey (BGS) in Edinburgh said the quake was centred near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire but its effects were felt as far away as Wales, Scotland and London.
But although the quake came as a shock to many in the area, it did nothing to faze Otley teacher Phil Robertson.
Mr Robertson, 35, who teaches at Otley All Saints C of E Primary School, experienced a number of stronger earthquakes while working out in New Zealand.
He said: "I was woken in the early hours of Wednesday by a rumbling noise. The whole building was shaking and I knew immediately what was happening.
"I lived in New Zealand for five years and we often had tremors reaching up to about 8 on the Richter scale. I lived a few meters from the major fault line and there were quite a few quakes when I was there."
Coun Graham Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) said there were reports in the town of one woman who believed a meteor had smashed into her greenhouse.
He said: "I think something must have fallen off the roof but because of all the shaking she thought it was a meteor.
"I think she got quite a fright. I myself was woken by it and knew immediately what was happening. It seemed as if the house was moving several feet but I'm sure it was only a few millimetres."
The British Geological Survey records approximately 200 earthquakes in the UK each year on its monitoring stations.
Approximately 25 of those are actually felt by people each year.
Siesmologist Dr Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey said: "This was a significant earthquake for the UK and will have been widely felt across England and Wales.
12:40pm Wednesday 27th February 2008
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