List of earthquakes in the United Kingdom

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The following is a list of notable earthquakes that have been detected in the United Kingdom.

On average several hundred earthquakes are detected by the British Geological Survey each year, but almost all are far too faint to be felt by humans. Those that are felt generally cause very little damage.

Nonetheless, earthquakes have on occasion resulted in considerable damage, the most notable being in 1580 and 1884; Musson (2003) reports that there have been ten documented fatalities – six due to people being struck by falling masonry, and four due to building collapse.

[edit] Earthquakes

For earthquakes prior to the modern era, the epicentre is only approximate, and indicates the area in which it was recorded that a quake was felt. The strength where given is measured using the Richter scale.

Date Epicentre M Notes
974 England [1]
May 1, 1048 Midlands Felt in Worcester, Warwick and Derby[1]
July 4, 1060 England [1]
April 22, 1076 England Also felt in France and Denmark[1]
August 11, 1089 England [1]
August 28, 1119 Western England [1]
July 25, 1122 Somerset and Gloucestershire [1]
December 5, 1129 England [1]
August 4, 1133 England [1]
May 1, 1158 England [1]
January 26, 1165 East Anglia ~ 6 [1]
April 25, 1180 Nottinghamshire
April 15, 1185 Lincoln ~ 8 Lincoln Cathedral badly damaged [1]
January, 1199 Scotland [1]
April 23, 1228 England [1]
June 1, 1246 Canterbury
February 13, 1247 London [2]
February 20, 1247 Wales ~5 1/2 [1]
December 21, 1248 South West England 7-8 Wells Cathedral reported to have been badly damaged[1]
February 19, 1249 South Wales
September 11, 1275 Southern England In Glastonbury, the Abbey was damaged and the Church of St. Michael on the Torr Hill destroyed [1]
January 4, 1299 South East England Felt in Kent and Middlesex, may have caused the collapse of St Andrew's church Hitchin[1]
May 21, 1318 England [1]
March 28, 1343 Eastern England Felt in Lincolnshire[1]
March 27, 1349 Eastern England Felt in Beverley[1]
May 21, 1382 Canterbury ~5.8 [1]
May 24, 1382 Canterbury ~4 Aftershock of May 21 earthquake[1]
December 28, 1480 Norfolk [1]
September 19, 1508 North Sea Felt in England and Scotland[1]
July, 1534 North Wales May also have been felt in Dublin, Ireland[1]
May 25, 1551 Croydon [3]
February 26, 1575 West Midlands ~5.0 Felt as far apart as York and Bristol [1]
April 6, 1580 Straits of Dover ~5.8 First recorded fatality. See Dover Straits earthquake of 1580
May 1, 1580 Straits of Dover Principal aftershock of the Dover Straits earthquake of 1580 felt as far as Gravesend [1]
July 23, 1597 Scotland Felt all over the Highlands [1]
December 24, 1601 North Sea Felt in London and the east of England [1]
February, 1602 North Sea [1]
November 8, 1608 Comrie [1]
March 2, 1622 Scotland [1]
April 11, 1650 Cumberland [1]
June, 1668 Borders [1]
October 6, 1683 Derby First British earthquake surveyed by the British Geological Survey[1]
August 27, 1690 Carmarthen Also felt in Nantwich, Cheshire and Bideford, Devon [1]
October 7, 1690 Caernarvon ~5.2 Felt from Dublin to London[1]
September 8, 1692 Most parts of England, France, Germany and the Netherlands [1][4]
December 28, 1703 Hull [1]
October 25, 1726 Dorchester [1]
July 19, 1727 Swansea ~5.2 [1]
March 1, 1728 Galashiels No damage caused [1]
October 25, 1734 Portsmouth Also felt in France [1]
April 30, 1736 Clackmannan Aftershocks also felt on May 1 [1]
July 1, 1747 Taunton [1]
May 17, 1749 Wimborne Minster [1]
February 8, 1750 London [1][5]
March 8, 1750 London [1]
March 18, 1750 Portsmouth [1]
April 2, 1750 Chester [1]
August 23, 1750 North Sea [1]
September 30, 1750 Leicester ~6 [1]
April 8, 1753 Skipton [1]
April 19, 1754 Whitby [1]
August 1, 1755 Lincoln [1]
January 10, 1757 Norwich [1]
May 17, 1757 Todmorden [1]
July 15, 1757 Penzance [1]
August 12, 1757 Holyhead [1]
June 9, 1761 Shaftesbury [1]
November 6, 1764 Oxford [1]
May 15, 1768 Wensleydale [1]
October 24, 1768 Inverness [1]
December 21, 1768 Tewkesbury [1]
April 2, 1769 South Molton [1]
November 14, 1769 Inverness Several fatalities
April 22, 1773 Caernarvon [1]
April 23, 1773 Channel Islands Felt in Dorset and Northern France[1]
September 8, 1775 Swansea [1]
November 28, 1776 Dover Straits [1]
September 14, 1777 Manchester [1]
August 29, 1780 Llanrwst [1]
December 9, 1780 Wensleydale [1]
October 5, 1782 Amlwch [1]
August 10, 1783 Launceston [1]
August 11, 1786 Whitehaven [1]
May 4, 1789 Barnstaple [1]
March 2, 1792 Stamford [1]
January 2 and March 12, 1795 Comrie [1]
November 18, 1795 Derbyshire ~4.7 [1]
August 4, 1797 Argyll ~6 [1]
March 12, 1800 Conway [1]
June 1, 1801 Chester [1]
September 7, 1801 Comrie Climax of an earthquake swarm in Comrie lasting between 1788 and 1801[1]
October 21, 1802 Carmarthen [1]
January 12, 1805 Ruthin [1]
April 21, 1805 Stafford [1]
January 18, 1809 Strathearn [1]
January 31 and February 1, 1809 Strontian [1]
November 30, 1811 Chichester [1]
May 1, 1812 Neath [1]
March 17, 1816 Mansfield [1]
August 13, 1816 Inverness ~5.1 [1]
April 23, 1817 West Scotland [1]
December 25, 1820 Kintail [1]
October 22, 1821 Rothesay [1]
October 23, 1821 Comrie [1]
January 18, 1822 Holme-on-Spalding-Moor [6]
April 13, 1822 Comrie [1]
December 6, 1824 Portsmouth [1]
February 9, 1827 Caernarvon [1]
March 2, 1831 Deal [1]
July 28, 1832 Chester [1]
December 30, 1832 Swansea [1]
September 18, 1833 to August 27, 1834 Chichester One fatality [1]
August 20, 1835 Lancaster [1]
October 20, 1837 Tavistock [1]
March 20, 1839 Invergarry [1]
June 11, 1839 Rochdale [1]
September 1, 1839 Monmouth [1]
October 23, 1839 Comrie, Comrie ~4.8 This was the largest of all known Comrie earthquakes, and was felt over most of Scotland. It caused a dam near Stirling to breach. [1]
January 18-19, and October 26, 1840 Comrie A monument to the first of these earthquakes was found in 1993 and now belongs to the Perth Museum. [1]
March 12, 1841 Comrie [1]
July 30, 1841 Comrie [1]
December 20, 1841 Kintail [1]
August 15, 1842 Caernarvon [1]
February 25, 1843 Argyll [1]
March 10, 1843 Todmorden [1]
March 17, 1843 Irish Sea ~5.0
December 22, 1843 Channel Islands Felt in Devon. [1]
January 18, 1844 Comrie [1]
November 24, 1846 Comrie [1]
November 16, 1847 Newport [1]
April 3, 1852 Wells [1]
June 1, 1852 Swansea [1]
August 12, 1852 Callington [1]
November 9, 1852 Caernarvon ~5.3 Felt over a large area, from Galway, Glasgow and London[1]
February 19, 1853 Inverness [1]
March 27, 1853 Hereford [1]
April 1, 1853 Coutances, France Felt on the south coast of England. [1]
April 1, 1858 Liskeard [1]
September 29, 1858 Okehampton [1]
June 6, 1858 Stratherrick [1]
August 13, 1859 Ixworth [1]
October 6, 1863 Hereford ~5.2
April 22, 1884 Colchester ~4.6 Several fatalities reported. Felt in France and Belgium. See 1884 Colchester earthquake
December 17, 1896 Hereford ~5.3
September 18, 1901 Inverness ~5.0
June 27, 1906 Swansea 5.2
July 30, 1926 Jersey
August 15, 1926 Hereford
January 24, 1927 North Sea 5.7
June 7, 1931 Dogger Bank 6.1 Strongest officially recorded. See 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake
February 11, 1957 Derby 5.3 Felt across central England
December 26, 1979 Longtown, Cumbria 4.7
July 19, 1984 Llŷn Peninsula 5.4 Felt across Ireland and western Britain
April 2, 1990 Bishop's Castle, Shropshire 5.1
May 7, 2001 North Sea 5.0
September 23, 2002 Dudley 4.7 Felt between Liverpool and London. See 2002 Dudley earthquake

[edit] References

  • Guinness Book of Answers – Guinness Publishing (1993)
  • Archives of the British Geological Survey
  • R M W Musson, "Fatalities in British earthquakes". Astronomy & Geophysics. Vol. 44, p1 (2003)
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dy dx dz ea eb Notes On Individual Earthquakes, British Geological Survey
  2. ^ 'Book 1, Ch. 3: King John to Edward I', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 37-56. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46720&strquery=earthquake. Date accessed: 12 March 2007.
  3. ^ 'Croydon', The Environs of London: volume 1: County of Surrey (1792), pp. 170-201. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45377&strquery=earthquake. Date accessed: 12 March 2007.
  4. ^ 'Book 1, Ch. 17: From the Revolution to the death of William III', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 272-88. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46734&strquery=earthquake. Date accessed: 12 March 2007.
  5. ^ Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 20 Feb 1750 p. 89
  6. ^ 'Holme, East - Holt', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 533-37. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=51039&strquery=earthquake. Date accessed: 12 March 2007.

[edit] External links

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