From Folkestone in 2007, Ramsgate in 2015 and Dover in 1382 and 1850

Did the Earth Move for You is a question many of us have asked, with more hope than expectation. But on April 28, 2007, a lot of County got out of bed safely knowing that yes, it really was.

Because just before 8:20 a.m. on a sunny Saturday, the UK’s largest earthquake in nearly 50 years shook Folkestone and could be felt as far as Suffolk and Brussels in Belgium.

A woman leads to safety after the 2007 Folkestone earthquake. Photo: Edward Thompson

The quake set off fire alarms on cars and businesses across the province.

Hundreds of buildings were damaged in Folkestone, which was closest to the epicenter, with insurance companies subsequently setting the total repair bill at over £10m. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Mike Gooden, crew manager for the Folkestone Fire Service, said at the time: “We sat at the breakfast table and felt as if someone had driven a truck to the fire station. It was such a big impact.

“I was wondering if a plane had been shot down, or part of the canal tunnel collapsed, shaking the ground and causing this damage.”

For those of us who live elsewhere in the county, the sensation of feeling the earth trembling was rather unpleasant.

Seismological record Folkestone earthquake. Photo: British Geological Survey

After all, we believe earthquakes occur elsewhere in the world rather than in the British Isles.

However, this year alone – and we’re reminded that we are only in February – there have been more than 20 earthquakes recorded nationwide. Sure, many of them are too small to notice, but it reminds us that we are all sitting on the constantly moving and evolving crust of the Earth.

Admittedly, while we’re unlikely to see the magnitude of the earthquake wreaking havoc in those countries that live along well-known fault lines in the Earth’s tectonic plates – the huge slabs of floating rock that make up the Earth’s crust – there’s every chance we’ll feel that the Earth vibrate again.

“There are some flaws in the Kent era,” explains Dr Daniel Donoghue, Principal Lecturer in Geography at Canterbury Christchurch University.

“I know there’s definitely one under Folkestone and a little beach in the Channel.

Daniel Donoghue is Lecturer of Geography at Canterbury Christchurch University

“It might be too small.

“The faults don’t have to be along tectonic boundaries – you could theoretically have a fault anywhere.”

The world’s great tectonic frontier is where major earthquakes generally occur. When huge panels move side by side, they can sometimes get stuck temporarily. And when they free themselves, the release of tension sends out vibrational waves.

But the magnitude of the earthquakes there – and the devastation they cause – is much more powerful than what we experience in Kent.

To give a clue, the 2007 Folkestone earthquake registered, according to the British Geological Survey, 4.3 on the Richter scale – the officially recognized measure of earthquakes.

Damage in Japan after the 2011 earthquake

The earthquake that caused the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 was 9.1. The devastation caused by the killing of nearly 229,000 people and the displacement of more than 1.1 million people.

It makes a few chimney pots and lousy crumbling walls seem rather insignificant.

Dr Donoghue adds: “Here it wouldn’t be the same along the tectonic boundary where they act almost like clouds, where tension builds up, then decompresses as it was.

“The most common type of fault we’re likely to encounter here is what you probably call a mid-plate fault. There is pressure all around the edges of the tectonic plate, and over time there could be weakness somewhere. In theory, an earthquake could occur in Anywhere, not just on the edges.

“There were some big earthquakes thousands of miles away from the edge of the nearest rim of the tectonic plate.

Damage to Nepal from the devastating earthquake in 2015

“Africa is going towards Europe and going downhill, and this pressure from the two plates colliding, it builds up everywhere on the plate and at some point it can rupture.”

It was Folkestone’s title that captured the 2007 earthquake far from the one only felt in the territory.

There was another place in the same city just two years later – even though this city was just under 2.8 degrees.

In the early hours of May 22, 2015, many awoke to experience the strange sensation of screeching motifs loud enough to wake them up after an earthquake struck Thanet.

The epicenter was in Ramsgate but could be felt across most of the eastern county – waking residents and causing little to no concern.

There was a fair amount of structural damage to property when the ground shook

It scored 4.2 on the Richter scale, but, fortunately, it caused very little structural damage to the property. This earthquake, along with the 2007 Folkestone earthquake, remains among the most powerful ever to hit the UK.

(The biggest, in case you were wondering, was in 1931 in the North Sea near Dogger Bank—a territory familiar to fans of shipping forecasts. It measured 6.1 on the Richter scale.)

Surely we have to go back a few centuries to another great upheaval in the county – and to the biggest upheaval we have ever felt.

In 1580, there was an earthquake somewhere in the Strait of Dover which was pretty big – relatively, that is. Thought to have a magnitude of 5.8, it shook buildings as far away as London and caused extensive damage. Buildings collapsed in Lille, France. Several people were killed in Flanders.

Although of course it is important to remember that the buildings were not to be structurally sound as they are today.

There were several earthquakes that started under the canal

The walls at Dover had collapsed, and there was a landslide on the White Cliffs and Saltwood Castle in Hythe which made it uninhabitable due to the damage done to it.

He is said to have inspired the earthquake mentioned in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Held during Easter week, many at that time considered it a sign of God’s will.

The poet James Yates wrote (in the language of the time): “Oh, sudden movement, and the shaking of the earth; no loud explosions, the calmness and nature of the weather; good Lord, the sudden scarcity of a thing; sudden fear brought, to a man and a child; they really believed, and so in the field like Towne The earth shall sink, and all the houses shall fall.”

The aftershocks in the following days can also cause damage.

During the construction of the channel tunnel, experts were able to measure the magnitude of the 1580 . earthquake

The magnitude of the earthquake could have been determined when the canal tunnel was built and the engineers could see what happened – and they could ensure the tunnel structure could withstand any future tremors.

Nearly 200 years ago, in 1382, there were two more large ones in the canal – one of which is believed to have clocked in at 5.8 and the other at 5.0. They occurred within days of each other, and caused extensive damage – particularly in Canterbury, which saw the bell tower of Canterbury Cathedral collapse as a result.

So what can we expect in the future?

Dr Donoghue explains: “I would say the likelihood of us getting anything substantial is next to zero.

“You can never say never; it could happen. There could be a shelf plume rising below us that we know nothing about and it could suddenly collide, explode and open up a whole new tectonic frontier.”

Canterbury Cathedral was damaged by an earthquake in the 14th century

“But with modern technology I imagine we might be able to map the Earth’s surface better than we can now.

“Our chances of getting others close to 5.0 on the Richter scale are very limited.

“But then the downward sloping creates pressure that causes folding – and that pressure doesn’t happen without some kind of ground motion. But we don’t have evidence of any deep faults here.”

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