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22 May 2015

‘The horror’: Kent’s earthquake ‘devastation’

Kent is “hit” by a 4.2 magnitude earthquake, and the subsequent media explosion is greeted by mockery online.

The earthquake struck at 1.52am near Ramsgate, in Kent, and there have been no reports of structural damage or any injuries – though residents have said buildings shook as tremors hit.

#KentEarthquake in context

  • There are around 200 earthquakes every year in the UK.
  • However, quakes of Friday’s magnitude only occur once every two or three years.
  • 4.2 magnitude earthquakes happen 4,500 times across the world annually.
  • Kent’s earthquake is approximately 260,000 times smaller than the earthquake in Nepal that killed over 8,000 people, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said.

The UN has warned that aid workers are now in a “race against time” in Nepal, which was hit by two major earthquakes over the course of a month, before the monsoon season begins bringing the threat of landslides and disruption to efforts to reach communities.

The BGS said it had received 400 reports from people saying they “felt” the earthquake. People reported windows shaking, “a strong juddering” and car alarms going off, the BGS said.

    Many of the tweets were posts joking about the damage inflicted by the earthquake and promising that “We Will Rebuild”. Some of our favourite examples are below:

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