1906 Swansea earthquake

Earthquake in Wales on 27 June 1906

51°37′N 3°49′W / 51.62°N 3.81°W / 51.62; -3.81[1]TypeUnknownAreas affectedEngland
WalesMax. intensityVII (Very strong)[2]CasualtiesThree 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

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

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

The magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 5.2 on the Richter magnitude scale.

Impact

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

References

  1. ^ a b British Geological Survey. "UK Historical Earthquake Database". Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Notes on individual earthquakes". British Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  3. ^ a b "The day an earthquake hit Swansea". BBC News. 27 June 2006.
  4. ^ "Swansea's earthquake remembered". City and County of Swansea. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  5. ^ James McLaren (27 June 2012). "After 1906 Swansea earthquake, is Wales due another?". BBC News. Retrieved 27 June 2012.

Further reading

  • 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

  • Residents feel shaking in quake – BBC News
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† indicates earthquake resulting in at least 30 deaths
‡ indicates the deadliest earthquake of the year