1906 Swansea earthquake
  | |
| UTC time | 1906-06-27 09:45 |
|---|---|
| ISC event | n/a |
| USGS-ANSS | n/a |
| Local date | 27 June 1906 |
| Local time | 09:45 |
| Magnitude | 5.2 ML[1] |
| Epicentre | 51°37′N 3°49′W / 51.62°N 3.81°W[1] |
| Type | Unknown |
| Areas affected | England Wales |
| Max. intensity | MSK-64 VII (Very strong)[2] |
| Casualties | Three injured[3] |
The 1906 Swansea earthquake hit near the town of Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales on 27 June. It was one of the most damaging to hit Britain during the twentieth century, with a small area reaching an intensity of VII on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale.
Location, date and time
[edit]At 9.45am on 27 June 1906, a powerful earth tremor was felt across much of South Wales, its epicentre being placed just offshore of Port Talbot. The quake, which struck just a few weeks after the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was felt as far afield as Ilfracombe, Birmingham and southwest Ireland.[3]
Cause
[edit]Swansea is located near the southwestern ends of two major fault structures; the Neath Disturbance and the Swansea Valley Disturbance, movement on either of which or on any of several adjoining faults may have caused the quake.
Magnitude
[edit]The magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 5.2 on the Richter scale.
Impact
[edit]The earthquake was felt by many people, though recorded injuries were minimal: a young man, Thomas Westbury, and a three-year-old boy, Thomas Lewis, were hit by falling bricks and a girl was injured by the toppling of tin plates at Cwmavon. Reports told of bricks falling from chimneys across the city[4] and the Mumbles lighthouse "rocked on its foundations."[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "UK Historical Earthquake Database". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Notes on individual earthquakes". British Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ a b "The day an earthquake hit Swansea". BBC News. 27 June 2006.
- ^ "Swansea's earthquake remembered". City and County of Swansea. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ James McLaren (27 June 2012). "After 1906 Swansea earthquake, is Wales due another?". BBC News. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
Further reading
[edit]- Davison, C. (1907), "The Swansea Earthquake of June 27th, 1906", Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 63 (1–4): 351–NP, doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1907.063.01-04.25, S2CID 130838399
- Davison, Charles (1906), "The Earthquake in South Wales", Nature, 74 (1914): 225–226, Bibcode:1906Natur..74R.225D, doi:10.1038/074225b0, S2CID 4059776
External links
[edit]- Residents feel shaking in quake – BBC News