Press Release

Red Cross responds to earthquake

27 February 2008

The Red Cross helped respond during the night to the biggest earthquake in the UK for 25 years.

People in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Manchester, the Midlands and Norfolk and also parts of Wales, felt the tremor just before 1am on 27 February.
A Red Cross fire and emergency support service (FESS) team was deployed in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, near the epicentre of the 5.3 magnitude quake.

It was a busy night for the fire service in Gainsborough, which was called out to 50 incidents and one fire as a result of the quake.

Anita Moore, FESS coordinator, worked through the night with volunteer, Carrie Metcalfe. The team were called at 2am and worked through the night until 9am. They provided emotional and practical support to numerous people whose homes and cars were damaged by the quake.

“The first incident we went to was an elderly lady whose property was badly damaged,” Anita said. “There was a lot of rubble on the floor and the fire service was very concerned about her chimney. She was really shaken up. We were able to comfort her and gave her advice on how to contact her insurance company.”

The team were then called to another incident, in which the man woke to discover his chimney had fallen off.

“The chimney had also damaged his car, and nearby houses had to be evacuated because of concerns about the property being dangerous,” Anita said. “We provided emotional support and advice on insurance to a number of households.”

Thousands of people across England and Wales felt the earthquake, leaving many quite distressed.

Jonathan McDonnell, Red Cross emergency response manager for Lincolnshire, described the tremors: “It was quite dramatic. Objects rattled and pictures fell off the wall. It sounded like rumbling thunder to start with and then felt like a train going by the front door.

“There was a silence afterwards and we wondered what was going to happen next. Then the lights started to go on in the street and the phones began to ring.”

There was only one reported injury – a man in South Yorkshire who suffered leg injuries when a chimney collapsed.

Red Cross FESS teams responded to more than 1,790 callouts in 2007.