Hundred of people are reporting that their houses shook within quite a wide radius of Buncefield.
When a house shakes like that, is there no structural damage done? I should have thought that the entire structure must be weakened somewhat, even if far enough from the blast for no windows to be blown out. One Surrey contributor to the BBC Have Your Say forum said that she found cracks in the walls the next morning. Insurance claims following this event are likely to be huge.
MM
Just been announced on TV that it was around 2.5 (if my memory is correct) on the Richter scale.
Richter scale is *logarithmic*, so 2.5 is 2/3s of knack all.
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The blast wasn't particularly great by explosives standards, the reason it was felt and heard a long way away was because of a nice inversion in the atmosphere which ducted it for some distance. The same inversion kept the smoke up as well so fumes have not been a problem at all (it has been very dark though!). Outside of the immediate area (say 1km radius) its unlikely any structural damage to buildings could occur.
What occurred was a large mass relatively low velocity explosion. The devastation it has caused on the adjacent industrial estate is going to dwarf domestic claims.
On Sunday morning I was woken up by a loud shunting, bang, bang, bang sound. I though it came from the radiator. I checked all the heating out and found nothing. From the TV I found it was the oil depot going up. I am nowhere near Hemel. It must have been a hell of a bang. I hope the smoke drops over places like Wokingham.
Doesn't take much movement for plasterboard to show cracks. Did they specify external or internal walls having cracks in? Surrey is a long way away from Buncefield - and whilst the weather inversion can cause sounds to travel a long way - there's a difference between hearing a low rumble as others around here (I'm in Guildford, Surrey), and a sound wave strong enough to crack brickwork.
Our house physically moves each time a bus goes past us (about 6-8 per hour) as there is a fault/joints in the road causing the bus to bump over it which we then feel. I've often wondered whether there's any problem with this with regard to structural integrity etc. Seeing as all the houses on the street are still standing (from 1930's), I'm guessing not.
D
On average, Britain gets an earthquake in the same magnitude range about once a fortnight. There was a more powerful one in Fort William the previous day. If houses were not built to withstand that much shaking, there would not be many left standing.
Had she looked for them the day before and not found any, or had she just noticed them because she looked? Most houses have some cracking somewhere. The important ones are the ones that change.
Colin Bignell
Milton Keynes isn't that far away.
No it didn't actually. Sorry to disappoint. Anyway, I'm 850 miles away.
It is just up the M1 from Hemel. But there was no oil explosion there Matt. The noise came from the Hemel direction on the MK one. MK has a Makita dealership you know.
In Milton Keynes. I wish that horrid little town called Wokingham was that far away.
Do you mean "naff all" or are you a debollocker by trade :-))
A perfectly understandable assumption given your plumbing skills.
Owain
The message from Andy Hall contains these words:
No, just one of my European tours....
Deported?
Do you mean my radiator is connected to Hemel?
Looking at yachts on the Riviera.
Scrubbing decks eh. Any takers yet?
Enjoying coffee and croissants....
A hard days scrubbing does make one peckish.
At this time of night?
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