Earthquake off the Wicklow coast

JackieChan

[Since we don't have a Geology forum, I though this would be the best place]

An earthquake measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale was felt off the east coast early this morning.


The tremor occurred 30km due east of Bray Head, Co Wicklow at an estimated depth of 9km, according to the School of Cosmic Physics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Senior Professor of Geophisics Alan Jones said the quake occurred at 3.30am.

"I live in Greystones, it didn't wake me up but we had reports from people in being woken up," he said. He said more information would be available this weekend.

He also said there was a dire need for Ireland to have it's own seismic network, as we currently rely on information from the British Geological Survey.

"We don't want to scare people, but there is not enough information to satisfy the Irish public", Prof Jones added.

No structural damage has been reported following this morning's quake. In 1984 a quake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale was felt along the east coast causing some minor structural damage.


I know that ireland is nowhere near a plate edge, why would we have minor earthquakes? Is this due to fractures within our plate?
Picture of reading from Hartland Seimsology station

Gegerty

http://geology.about.com/library/graphics/crustalplates.gif

It's either so small that they don't even bother putting it on the maps or maybe its to do with Magma swells? Or maybe the british are testing weapons under the sea :eek:

breandan

Well I was awake for it and I have to say I found it a weird experience.
At first I thought it might be someone starting a truck outside on the road as that sometimes causes noise and vibration but within a second or two I felt it wasnt that, it just 'felt' very different.
It is actually quiet hard to describe the tremor other than to say it was an 'upleasent feeling' and I really dont fancy anything more powerful thank you very much.
Nothing shuck or vibrated here (Wicklow)......................it was more a feeling I could feel it in my stomach, a vibrating sensation but at a really really low frequency.
Something like being at a club with a massive bass system only even deeper! and the vibration was 'faster' which is weird because I think the general rule is that the lower the frequency the slower the cycle/vibration (Im sure Ill be corrected on this)
There was also an audible sound, to my ears anyways, something like the truck or lorry starting and ticking over before its put into gear except more constant and deeper and it only lasted about 5 seconds.

Well thats my ramble finished

Dale

It's hard to describe a earthquake ... I was awake and browsing the internet that morning a few years back when that earthquake happened in Dudley, England, UK. Now that was mad, my dad's computer room walls had a "liquidy" effect, I originally thought it was a train going underneath the house. (However my dad thought it was terrorists, lol.)