Techtonic Plates

Why did England have an Earthquake?
I know that we have many weak ones, but how do they occur? As far as I am aware an earthquake happens, generaly, on a fault, but to my knowledge there are no faults in England or the uk for that matter. Can you get mini faults that have been there since the creation of the techtonic plates that have not been detected or is it something more sinister.
Thoughts please

There are small fault lines spread out throughout the world. Due to friction from the movement of rocks against each other, small earthquakes can occur. It like when you pull a rubber band back.....the further and longer you hold it back the more energy stored and the further it goes when released. It is a common misconception, that you need to be near a major fault line (which are on the boundries of the tectonic plates) to experience an earthquake. I hope this makes sense to you

reply to post by OzWeatherman

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Thank you very much, yes it did make sense

A lot of minor quakes like last night's occur in areas where the land is still rising after being depressed by the weight of ice during the Ice Age - a process known as isostasy.

I haven't looked at a geological map to see if there are any old fault lines in the area of the earthquake, but it's quite possible that isostasy was the cause. There are dozens of small earthquakes a year in the region of the North Sea, although the majority in the British Isles tend to occur in Scotland (we can get upwards of 200 a year - though usually only a handful are big enough for people to notice)

I agree, it makes sense.However , it is getting less logical when I remind myself that several days ago Norway got the largest quake ever recorded by them.. why all at once? also Greece waking up , then Nevada etc.. I guess we are heading towards something at least unussual by 2011-2012 when we will have a very active solar cycle..

reply to post by sty

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Well most of the quakes have occured on or bordering the eurasion tectonic plate so apart from the one in nevada, there is nothing strange. And there hasnt been a release of energy from this plate fr a while so its overdue. Its nothing out of the ordinary

we got another one @ Nevada:
27-FEB-2008 07:59:39 41.12 -114.68 magnitude: 4.2 Depth KM: 5.0 NEVADA