Earthquake in Scarborough

All the talk at breakfast was about residents experience of the earthquake in the night. We slept through it only hearing about it when we turned on the radio on wakening.

Scarborough hit by quake in the early hours

PEOPLE in Scarborough and the surrounding areas were left reeling when a significant earthquake shook the region.

The tremor hit at just before 1am today and was measured at 5.2 on the Richter scale. The Scarborough Evening News was inundated with phone calls and emails from people wanting to share their experiences of the tremor.

Scarborough businessman Don Robinson, of Scalby Mills Road, felt the tremor, but did not realise what it was until he received a phone call from friends in Spain. He said: "It was very surprising - our friends said they had been watching the news and seen that there had been an earthquake in the UK. "It did wake us at the time and we thought a hurricane had hit the coast. It shook the house and then it just went quiet."

Mandy Graham, 34, of St Martin's Square, was working on an Open University assignment. She said: " My whole room shook. I thought the window I was working in front of was going to collapse right on top of me."

Property developer Alan Baker, 57, who lives in Folkton, said: "I keep ducks and chickens and they were all making a noise outside. The house was shaking for about three seconds. I felt an earth tremor many years ago near Pickering, so I knew what it was."

Diane Yalezo, of The Croft, Filey, said: "It was absolutely horrendous. It woke me up and I'm a really strong sleeper. The whole bedroom shook and the TV on top of the wardrobe was hanging over the edge. "It was very scary - I was on my own with the children because my husband was on nights." Mrs Yalezo added that the tremor woke her eight-year-old daughter Olivia, but her other daughter Laura, 13, and son, Tyran, 18 months, slept through it. Mrs Yalezo's mother, Ann Burdin, 69, also felt the tremor and rang her daughter straight away. Mrs Burdin, of Almond Close, Filey, said: "All of a sudden I heard this noise like a big gust of wind. I thought it must have been an earth tremor so I rang my daughter to see if everything was OK. "Fortunately there was no damage to the house."

Sandra McKeown, of Filey Road, Gristhorpe, said: "I was in bed turning my light off. All of a sudden there was a tremendous shaking. The television was shaking and the double glazed windows were too. I sat up and thought 'what was that'. "It was an amazing experience."

Russ Kellett, a UFO investigator, of South Crescent, Filey, lives with his sister and parents and was awoken by the sound of his sister screaming. He said: "When I woke up it felt like I was on a fairground ride. My sister was really frightened because she thought something had hit the house. I was absolutely amazed at the scale of it. "We put the news on to see what had happened. I have read books about UFOs appearing after earthquakes so I went out for a bit of a sky watch, but there was nothing."

John Wall, 60, of Hill Top Cottage, Suffield, said: "There was an almighty crash - it sounded like there was something coming through the ceiling. It looks like our chimney pot may have moved but it's still standing."

Christine Marshall, 60, of Abbot's Garth, Seamer, said: "One of my cats was on the bed and it leapt up in the air. The house shook and I had an awful feeling it had moved, but there was no damage. It was quite disturbing really."

Teacher Pat Argent, 48, of Fulford Road, said: "You couldn't quite believe what was happening. I have a pet budgie and two cockatiels and they went frantic. "This is something that doesn't often happen in Scarborough!"

Lisa Winter, head nurse at Swanzdale Veterinary Surgery in Scalby Road, said: "We have not had any calls from people who were worried about their pets, but I think if the tremor had lasted for longer we would have had some problems."

Its epicentre was near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, but the effects of the quake were felt throughout the country. A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "We received a large number of calls about the earthquake but none relating to any significant damage." North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue were not called out to any emergencies in Scarborough, but had to remove two fallen chimney pots in Selby.

Shrek,Scarborough 27/02/2008 09:46:39
I heard it but didnt at the time think it was a earthquake. I was on the computer when I heard a loud bang at around 1am, I first thought one of my children had fallen out of bed and landed on the floor. It was only 30 mins later that I realised it was a earthquake, when I heard about it on the net. I didnt feel any vibration as such

Taurus Lady,scarborough 27/02/2008 10:41:56
I thought I was in an exorcist film.

Lady Taurus ,Scarborough 27/02/2008 11:09:34
I was fast asleep in bed and the bed started to shake and woke me up. The tremour didn't last long and I thought I had dreamed it had happened. I was so shocked to read on the WWW site that it had been an earthquake. So scarey.

Mrs John Terry,Scarborough 27/02/2008 14:12:26
I was scared 2, John was away, so I was on my own.

lady carol,27/02/2008 15:54:55
i knew straight away what it was as on holiday a few years ago in zante we had one there.