Brits Reacted In The Most British Way Possible To The Swansea Earthquake
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However polite and reserved we may be compared to other nations, the UK doesn't have a lot of respect for tragedy. After all, this is the country that coined Keep Calm and Carry On, that slogan beloved of t-shirts and tea mugs everywhere.
Still, people across the UK were a little shaken up today after a relatively powerful earthquake struck Wales at just after 2.30pm earlier this afternoon.
Brits as far away as north-west and south-west England felt the quake, which had its epicentre 20km away from the city of Swansea in south Wales.
Just in: Event epicentre approx 20km NNE of Swansea, with 4.4 magnitude at a depth of 7.4km. Events of this magnitude only happen in the UK every 2-3 years.
- BGS (@BritGeoSurvey) February 17, 2018
Although the earthquake was the fifth strongest seismic event to hit the UK since 2000, thankfully no one appears to have been seriously hurt so far.
That didn't prevent us having fun with the situation though, as Brits used the opportunity to riff off the decidedly underwhelming earthquake.
Very quickly after the quake, Brits took to Twitter to post pictures and videos about the 'tragic' seismic event - with their tongues firmly in their cheeks.
One guy clearly wasn't satisfied with the impact of the quake as he sought to recreate it - weirdly, in his bathroom:
Ow mental earthquake that #earthquake #wales #sendhelp pic.twitter.com/DCGpESJ6V5
- EthanJones (@ethanjones2112) February 17, 2018
Another guy called the earthquake 'devastating', sharing a picture of a knocked over cup of tea. That is a major disaster in this country, to be fair.
NEWS JUST IN: DEVASTATING #EARTHQUAKE HITS PARTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES pic.twitter.com/0yPhD5Y6Wh
- Fraser (@iVexusHD) February 17, 2018
Other people shared pictures of bins and lawn chairs knocked over, saying 'South Wales will rebuild!' I'm sure they'll manage it in no time at all.
Fear not South Wales, we can rebuild after this earthquake. pic.twitter.com/Juq3dhMBtw
- քǟռɖǟ ֆᏆɛʋɛ (@ikralla) February 17, 2018
Of course, no one will ever pass up a chance to rip on the reputation of the Welsh, and someone did exactly that by sharing a picture of a sheep on its back:
Live scenes as an #earthquake has hit parts of Wales. pic.twitter.com/3lrrgTEgOi
- Matt (@MattH_197) February 17, 2018
Al in all, the earthquake was a storm in a teacup - literaly, a far cry from the earthquake near Alaska just a few weeks ago which had people fearing they'd be swamped by a tsunami:
CHECK OUT THIS COVERAGE OF A PROPER EARTHQUAKE:
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Between 200 and 300 earthquakes are detected and located in the UK each year, and the vast majority of them never amount to very much at all.
With so few natural disasters to deal with, you can't blame Brits for wanting a piece of the action. Even though it'd no doubt be a lot less funny if anything serious actually happened.
Featured Image Credit: US Geological Survey
Topics: UK News, Earthquake, News, Wales