2.4 on Richter scale = Mercury wakeup call!

Last Sunday morning just after 6AM my wife and I awoke suddenly for no apparent reason and noting the clear dawn I thought I’d try to spy Mercury from the bottom of my garden that has a clear SE horizon. Later we learned from TV of the massive oil depot explosion some 40 miles away at Hemel Hempstead measuring 2.4 on the Richter Scale - just after 6AM !

Some 10 hours later I recorded Venus in the dusk sky which, under the prevailing northerly winds, took on a dull steely blue colour perhaps from the dispersing smoke plume - there's a hint of the smoke in the pic. Comparative images at http://home.freeuk.com/m.gavin/conjunct.htm

Did you hear the explosion ? Friends in Norfolk did and also my daughters indepentantly a few miles away. Julia’s cat was transfixed for ages after looking skywards!

Nytecam 51N 0.1W - SW London-UK