UK NEWS
EARTHQUAKE DAMAGES WILL COST MILLIONS
David Bates' room in Barnsley after the Earthquake
Wednesday February 27,2008
By Emily Garnham for express.co.uk
THE cost of damages from this morning's huge earthquake is expected to run into millions of pounds.
Insurers are bracing themselves for another costly payout in the aftermath of the earthquake that was felt across the UK.
More Than insurer Royal & Sun Alliance, the UK’s second largest general insurer, said it had already received around 100 claims so far as a result of the earthquake, mostly for personal properties, relating to damaged roofs and slates. After Britain's biggest earthquake for 25-years shook England in the early hours of this morning.
One man, David Bates, 19, was rushed to hospital when a chimney fell through his bedroom ceiling after the tremor, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, hit Britain.
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I thought someone was banging on the wall behind me but there was no-one there.
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The quake’s epicentre was close to Market Rasen, in Lincolnshire, but across England people reported buildings shaking shortly before 1am.
Many said the tremors had been strong enough to wake them and anxious families congregated in streets with their neighbours.
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Lee Rushworth, 29, from Hartlepool, was woken up when the tremor made his sofa shake against the bedroom wall of his ground floor flat.
“I thought someone was banging on the wall behind me but there was no-one there,” he said.
A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: “We had an emergency call to Wombwell, Barnsley. A chimney had come through the bedroom roof.”
The man suffered injuries to his pelvis and was taken to Barnsley District Hospital.
She added the service had received only two calls relating to the earthquake - the second was from someone who was frightened.
East Midlands Ambulance Service, which covers Lincolnshire, said there had been a lot of emergency calls but no reports of injuries.
“Most of them were from elderly people who were quite frightened,” a spokeswoman said.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) initially gave the magnitude for the 12.56am earthquake as 5.3 on the Richter scale but has now said it was closer to 5.2.
It said the centre was 8km east of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, and 22km south west of Grimsby.
Seismologist Dr Brian Baptie of the BGS said: “This is a significant earthquake for the UK and will have been widely felt across England and Wales.”
The BGS said it records around 200 earthquakes in the UK each year - an eighth of which are able to be felt by residents.
It said earthquakes of this size occur in the mainland UK around every 30 years but are more common in offshore areas.
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EARTHQUAKE FUND
28.02.08, 5:58pm
Still no sign of pakistan setting up an earthquake fund for us. Next time they have one, sod 'em.
Posted by: beowulf Report Comment
ABUELA
28.02.08, 4:36am
That was said tongue in cheek due to a flight back from Qatar where I had been allocated seating in the midst of Pakistani preachers and their families all heading for Britain.
I ended up with a few FLEA bites during that flight, very likely from the whiskery person and the black bunch of mobile rags that moved every now and then,
On reflection the rags might have been his missus though.
its a little off-putting when you are quaffing a G&T whilst munching merrily on a sandwich and Whiskers and his equally whiskery mates jump up and start shouting Allah Akbar.
Then again the flights COMING in from Qatar are always full of rags and whiskers, its the flights LEAVING from the UK where you can get a whole row to yourself.
Posted by: Harryhewittssister Report Comment
HARRYHEWITTSSISTER
27.02.08, 9:43pm
You may have something there.
Those beards could be harbouring all manner of items!
Posted by: abuela Report Comment
HI AFFENKID
27.02.08, 7:24pm
I just write lol the proof-reader does the rest k
Posted by: agathac Report Comment
OH ...
27.02.08, 6:28pm
My prayers go out to all those affected by the earthquake...less judging and more prayin'
Posted by: AffenKid Report Comment
AGATHAC SPELL CHECK?
27.02.08, 6:26pm
AGATHAC please tell me you spell checked your story before publishing it....
BTW things are going on down here on this earthly plane, G*D must be ROLFing all over the place
Posted by: AffenKid Report Comment
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