# Earthquake... in Sweden **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 16, 2008, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376 "2008-12-16T09:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/21 "2008-12-16T15:45:08Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 4.2? **4.2**? That’s not an earthquake. That’s a truck rolling by. I don’t even wake up for anything under a 5.8! > > Amateurs! For what it’s worth, it’s been upgraded to 4.7-5 now. And it made a mediaeval church roof cave in. That should at least make us dilettantes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/22 "2008-12-16T15:48:23Z")
Well, if it actually caved in a roof (hope nobody was hurt!) of a church people were fond of, I think we can give you credit for it. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/23 "2008-12-16T15:59:29Z")
> [@Walpurgis](#): > > For what it’s worth, it’s been upgraded to 4.7-5 now. And it made a mediaeval church roof cave in. That should at least make us dilettantes. Got any links for the church roof cave in? I can’t find it on Sydsvenskan.se ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/24 "2008-12-16T16:34:51Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Got any links for the church roof cave in? I can’t find it on Sydsvenskan.se ☹ This is what I found - a [video](http://www.expressen.tv/KVP/1.1405455/kyrkan-sprack-av-jordbavningen) clip at Expressen.se (it’s in Swedish, no subtitling). The church was right on top of the epicenter. And, well, _caved in_ is way too strong a statement as I realize now watching the clip. Bits of the roof fell down. Sorry about that exaggeration. (Man, I just wanted to make it to dilettante!) ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/25 "2008-12-16T16:52:37Z")
Nifty, I’ll have to check it out when I get home. But at least one [church](http://sdsmedia.sydsvenskan.se/archive/00168/pepparkakshus_168170a.jpg)did get demolished ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/26 "2008-12-16T17:00:20Z")
Hmm… I’ll be in Sweden next week (I am in Fynn, Denmark, now). I swear I had nothing to do with this. And by the way, it’s not an earthquake if nobody gets hurt. At least in the MG scale. I have had my share of shakes, but I live on top of a fault, one expected to give us a big one any time. Life in the Caribbean is exciting like that. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/27 "2008-12-16T17:16:16Z")
> [@Walpurgis](#): > > And it made a mediaeval church roof cave in. Well, it’s obvious now who to blame for the earthquake – [Norwegian black metal!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantoft_stave_church) ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/28 "2008-12-16T17:37:39Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > Shoot, I’m jealous. Experiencing an earthquake (small and with no damage to speak of) is on my life list. Here in Germany, the most exciting natural phenomena I’ve encountered have been a couple of major wind storms, a lightning strike 3 houses down, and deadly gloom as the days get darker this time of year. It’s not so exciting. I’ve not been through a big one, but a few 3.5-5.5 ones, and it’s a little shaking, and that’s it. Any “cool” earthquake would probably invole a 6+… Joe ---
**Author:** ![ViktorWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c68b51/32.png) [@ViktorWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ViktorWolf)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/29 "2008-12-16T19:17:08Z")
> [@Claptree](#): > > I’m in Göteborg, and I felt nothing, but I was probably sleeping quite heavily. I’ll ask around. I live there too. I didn’t actually notice anything but I did wake up at 6:22 for some reason. Might have been the quake… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/30 "2008-12-16T19:38:27Z")
Hm, a friend of mine who lives in Malmo (I know there should be dots on the o, but I don’t know how to make them) has her Facebook status listed as something like “[Kyla’s friend] was woken by something that felt like an earthquake this morning!” I spent a few seconds pondering what it could have been that felt like an earthquake in Sweden. Maybe a big truck drove past her house? It didn’t occur to me that it was actually an earthquake! ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/31 "2008-12-16T19:46:09Z")
**Yawn** We don’t get worked up over a shaker that’s only a 5 on the Richter. Call back if you get a 6 or 7. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/32 "2008-12-16T20:25:31Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > Any “cool” earthquake would probably invole a 6+… I was in West Hollywood, not all that far from Northridge when that earthquake hit in January of 1994. It was not the first earthquake I had been in while living in California, but I hope it is the last one\*. Wasn’t all that much fun, trust me. - I now live in Las Vegas, Nevada…and though you would think earthquakes would not be a danger here, I was surprised to learn there are actually whole bunches of faults running through the valley here that could surprise us all one day. Luckily, they build homes here to California earthquake specifications, which helps but is no guarantee. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/33 "2008-12-17T01:05:10Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > It’s not so exciting. I’ve not been through a big one, but a few 3.5-5.5 ones, and it’s a little shaking, and that’s it. Any “cool” earthquake would probably invole a 6+… Knowing several people who were in Kobe in 1995, and having family who were in Mexico City in 1985, I’m a little distraught at the use of the word “cool” when talking about large earthquakes. Widespread [death](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Seisme_mexico.jpg) and [destruction](http://premium.nikkeibp.co.jp/sj2005/interview/29/img/img01.jpg)… Not so “cool” in my book. Having grown up in a very stable part of the world, I sort of understand, though. Small earthquakes happened from time to time, and they never did anything more than provide conversation fodder for the next day. Now I live in the most earthquake-prone country, where “the big one” isn’t a possibility, it’s a certainty, and when things start to shake, I swear my heart misses a beat. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/34 "2008-12-17T02:21:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Well, if it actually caved in a roof (hope nobody was hurt!) of a church people were \*\*fond \*\*of, I think we can give you credit for it. Fond? Church? Sweden? You must be joking! 😛 Valete, Vox Imperatoris ETA: I’ve never experienced an earthquake (I live in Alabama), but my cousin’s house was destroyed by a tornado one time. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/35 "2008-12-17T09:29:33Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > How far away did people feel the quake? It happened in Skåne (way south); did any Stockholmers feel it? Anyone in Göteborg? Or Copenhagen? > > (last one’s quite likely, but maybe the water dampened it?) A WoW guildie of mine who’s Danish said it had woken him, but I don’t know where exactly he is. I’m from Spain and my family home is close to an Air Force practice area. We can tell the difference between an earthquake and “the Americans are using live bombs, there must be a war about to happen” (the Spanish Air Force has a bombs budget… in arrears… so it can’t be them, they’re not going to waste live bombs for practice). ---
**Author:** ![Claptree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Claptree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claptree)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/36 "2008-12-17T10:11:09Z")
In hindsight, I’m rather disappointed I didn’t feel it. Seriously, how likely am I to ever get to feel an earthquake and not have to worry the least bit? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376/37 "2008-12-17T20:32:14Z")
And some people still don’t believe in climate change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-sweden/477376.md?page=1)