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Town rocked by earthquake
27/ 2/2008
GREATER Manchester was hit by an earthquake which affected most of England during the early hours of this morning.
Emergency services were inundated with calls from people who described being woken by their homes shaking violently.
The tremor, which lasted between 10 and 20 seconds, measured 4.7 on the Richter scale according to initial reports from the United States Geological Survey.
It happened just before 1am today and the epicentre was reported to be 15 miles north east of Lincolnshire.
Kevin Allcock, 41, from Stockport was working a nightshift at the Stockport Express with more than ten others.
He said: "There was a loud rumble and then the whole building started moving. I was sitting on a chair with wheels and it just rolled all over the place. My computer was shaking.
"We had no idea what was going on. We're near the Manchester Airport flight path so at first we thought it was a plane crash or a bomb. It felt so dramatic.
"My mobile phone has not stopped ringing since it happened. Friends from all over have told me how everyone was out on the streets wondering what was going on."
Greater Manchester Fire Service and GMP reported that there had been a significant number of calls from all areas.
There were no reports of any injuries. Officers went out to inspect a chimney in danger of collapse on Gorton
Road in Reddish.
In other parts of the country there were reports of structural damage and power failures.
A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service said: "We felt the tremors here in our control room in Anfield.
"We have had a few of our vehicles reporting that they felt the tremors as far as Macclesfield and up towards Southport."
Did you feel the the earthquake? Tell us about it.
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27/02/2008 at 10:20