The earthquake that occurred on Tuesday 21st Decemebr 2010 at approximately 11pm in the Lake District was 3.6 on the Richter scale. These size quakes happen approximately every 12-18 months in the UK but generally do not cause much damage. If you read comments posted by locals and people within the surrounding area they range significantly between feeling nothing (only hearing the rumbling noise) to tiles being dislodged in bathrooms and beds shaking. This is mostly due to the construction of each building - many are old, traditional ones, whilst other people may live in more modern houses. Despite not being on any plate boundaries we are still subject to the tectonic processes that happen underneath the earth's surface, either directly below us or as a result of movement nearby. For example the fact that the Atlantic Ocean is spreading has a knock-on affect by altering the pressure between different bands of rock that lie either side of it. The UK has a very old ridge of hard rock running through the centre of it and either side the rock is younger and softer so for all there are no plate boundaries there are boundaries such as bedding planes, joints and faults that have occurred due to changes in deposition, or rock type or by previous strain which has caused movement along planes of weakness (faults).
No comments:
Post a Comment