Rare earthquake creates alarm in southern Britain

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2007

LONDON (AFP) — A rare earthquake shook households in southeast England on Saturday, toppling chimneys, causing power cuts and alarming residents, authorities said.

The tremor, which the British Geological Survey (BGS) said hit 4.3 on the Richter scale, struck just after 8:15 am (0715 GMT), leaving one woman suffering a minor head and neck injury which required hospital treatment.

"Given the time that this has happened, people should be genuinely thankful that so few people have been injured," Chief Superintendent Alasdair Hope of Kent Police said.

The quake -- whose epicentre was identified by the BGS as being 7.5 miles (12 kilometres) off the coast of Dover, in the English Channel -- was the largest to hit Britain since one in the West Midlands in 2002....