Didcot power station demolition was so powerful it triggered an EARTHQUAKE

Locals had called for demolition to go ahead at a later time but energy company said early morning was best for health and safety reasons


The demolition of an iconic power station was so powerful that it registered on earthquake detection equipment.

Didcot's cooling towers were destroyed under a huge explosion last Sunday and it was so strong that seismology equipment in Harwell five miles away detected a tremor.

Houcheng Huang, principal engineering analyst at Diamond Light Source, told the BBC: "Nobody actually felt the impact but we have got very sensitive equipment.

"We pick up earthquakes in Japan, in China, in Pakistan, also a few years ago I remember I picked up a UK earthquake in Yorkshire somewhere. They are quite similar."

The three cooling towers were brought down amid a thunderous blast when 400lbs of explosives were detonated.

Energy company RWE npower had advised locals to stay away but hundreds turned up at 5am last Sunday to watch the towers come down.

Demolition job: Didcot power station cooling towers are brought down

The decision to demolish the towers in the early hours of the morning angered some locals, with a petition to change the timing gaining more than 3,000 signatures.

The town council had also expressed its disappointment but nPower said the time slot between 3am and 5am had been chosen on health and safety grounds, taking into account the risk of people getting too close to the explosion, and the impact of the dust cloud on local roads and a nearby rail line.

Warning sirens were sounded 15 and then 10 minutes before the explosion at 5am.

During the build-up to the explosion #DidcotDemolition was trending on Twitter, and one Oxfordshire resident said: "This has gotta be Didcot's most momentous occasion since we won the FA vase".

As many as 1,500 people gathered at nearby Wittenham Clumps to watch the action unfold, the Oxford Mail reported.

