The following is a list of notable earthquakes that have affected the British Isles. 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, most notably in 1580 and 1884; Musson (2003) reports that there have been ten documented fatalities – six caused by falling masonry and four by building collapse. The causes of earthquakes in the UK are unclear, but may include "regional compression caused by motion of the Earth’s tectonic plates, and uplift resulting from the melting of the ice sheets that covered many parts of Britain thousands of years ago." [1] Medieval reports of "earthquakes" that threw down newly built cathedrals may simply have been catastrophic failure of overloaded masonry, particularly towers, rather than actual tectonic events.
Date | Location | Lat | Long | Intensity | Comments | Source | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 April 1185 | Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England | ~VIII | Lincoln Cathedral badly damaged. See 1185 East Midlands earthquake. | [2] | |||||
20 February 1247 | South Wales to London, England | ≳5.5 | Felt in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland | [3] [2] | |||||
21 December 1248 | South West England | VII–VIII | Wells Cathedral reported to have been badly damaged | [2] | |||||
11 September 1275 | South Wales to Southern England | >VII | ~6.0 | In Glastonbury, the Abbey was damaged and the Church of St. Michael on the Torr Hill destroyed. "Only contemporary report of earthquake fatalities before 1580". See 1275 British earthquake | [2] [4] | ||||
21 May 1382 | Strait of Dover, England | 51.34 | 2.00 | VII–VIII | >5.5 | The bell tower of the cathedral was "severely damaged" and the six bells "shook down". Cloister walls to the Canterbury dormitory were ruined. In Kent, All Saints Church, West Stourmouth, was badly damaged. Felt in London (MMVI) and lent its name to the "Earthquake Synod". See 1382 Dover Straits earthquake | [2] | ||
28 December 1480 | Norwich, England | VIII | Severe damage reported affecting a wide area | [2] [5] | |||||
6 April 1580 | Strait of Dover, England | 51.06 | 1.60 | VII–VIII | ~5.8 | See Dover Straits earthquake of 1580 | [2] | ||
11 April 1650 | Cumberland, England | 54.98 | −2.78 | VII | 4.9 | Epicentre probably near Carlisle, felt at Glasgow | [2] [5] | ||
18 September 1692 | Duchy of Brabant, Belgium | 50.8 | 4.8 | ~6.0 | Felt in most parts of England, France, Germany and the Netherlands | [6] [7] | |||
19 July 1727 | Swansea, Wales | 51.57 | -3.76 | VII | 3.3 | Rang church bells as far away as Oxford. | [2] [5] | ||
8 September 1775 | Swansea, Wales | 51.73 | −3.81 | VII | 5.1 | Some buildings said to have collapsed, felt from Devon to Lancashire to Surrey | [2] [5] | ||
7 September 1801 | Comrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland | 56.4 | −3.99 | VI | 4.6 | Two farmworkers were killed when part of a barn collapsed | [2] [5] | ||
17 March 1816 | Mansfield, England | 53.09 | −1.18 | VII | 4.2 | Falling masonry injured several in the church at Mansfield, felt from Blackburn to Hull to Gumley | [2] [5] | ||
27 August 1834 | Chichester, England | 50.82 | −0.82 | VII | 3.3 | Last in a sequence of damaging earthquakes starting with an event in September 1833 that caused the death of a quarryman | [2] [5] | ||
23 October 1839 | Comrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland | VII | ~4.8 | Part of a long-lived earthquake swarm. This was the largest of all known Comrie earthquakes, and was felt over most of Scotland. It caused a dam near Stirling to breach. | [2] [5] | ||||
9 November 1852 | Caernarfon, Wales | 53.02 | −4.30 | VII | 5.3 | Similar to the 1984 Llŷn Peninsula earthquake, felt in Dublin, Belfast, Carlisle and Cheltenham | [2] [5] | ||
15 February 1865 | Barrow in Furness, England | 54.07 | −3.18 | VIII | 2.2 | Small area of high intensity indicating a shallow focus (≤1 km) | [2] [5] | ||
28 November 1880 | Argyll, Argyll and Bute, Scotland | 56.19 | −5.30 | VI | ~5.2 | Largest recorded earthquake in Scotland. | [2] [5] | ||
22 April 1884 | Colchester, Essex, England | 51.82 | 0.90 | VIII | ~4.6 | The most damaging earthquake since 1580. At least two indirect fatalities reported. Felt in France and Belgium. See 1884 Colchester earthquake. | [2] | ||
18 August 1892 | Pembroke, Wales | 51.70 | −5.04 | VII | 5.1 | Felt most strongly in Wales and South West England, but also felt in SE Ireland | [2] [5] | ||
17 December 1896 | Hereford, England | 52.02 | −2.55 | VII | Felt widely throughout England and Wales and E Ireland | [2] [5] | |||
18 September 1901 | Inverness, Scotland | 57.43 | −4.32 | VII | 5.0 | Considerable minor damage, many falling chimney pots. Many foreshocks and aftershocks. | [2] [5] | ||
24 March 1903 | Derby, England | 53.05 | −1.70 | VII | 4.6 | Felt from Hoylake, to Boston and Richmond to Barnt Green | [2] [5] | ||
27 June 1906 | Swansea, Wales | 51.62 | −3.81 | VII | 5.2 | One of the most damaging British earthquakes of the 20th century. See 1906 Swansea earthquake. | [2] [8] | ||
14 January 1916 | Stafford, England | 52.85 | −2.19 | VII | 4.6 | Significant damage at Chebsey | [2] [5] | ||
4 April 1924 | Mansfield, England | 53.11 | −1.34 | VII | Most damaging of a sequence that started on 3 March | [2] [5] | |||
15 August 1926 | Ludlow, England | 52.31 | −2.66 | VII | 4.8 | Felt from Plymouth to Hull | [2] [5] | ||
3 May 1931 | Manchester, England | 53.50 | −2.35 | VII | 3.7 | Small but damaging earthquake | [2] [5] | ||
7 June 1931 | Dogger Bank, North Sea | 54.08 | 1.50 | VII | 6.1 | Strongest recorded instrumentally. See 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake. | [2] [5] | ||
16 July 1940 | Kilsyth, Scotland | 56.00 | −4.00 | VII–VIII | 3.7 | House gable collapsed at Carronbridge | [2] [5] | ||
12 December 1940 | Caernarfon, Wales | 53.03 | −4.18 | V | 4.7 | An elderly woman was killed after she fell down the stairs | [2] [5] | ||
30 December 1944 | Skipton, England | 53.86 | −2.02 | VII | 4.8 | Generally minor damage | [2] [5] | ||
11 February 1957 | Derby, England | 52.80 | −1.33 | VII | 5.3 | Felt across central England. Largest UK post-war earthquake until 1984, and one of the most damaging earthquakes of the twentieth century. | [2] [5] | ||
26 December 1979 | Longtown, Cumbria, England | 55.03 | −2.82 | VI | 4.7 | Damage to buildings in Canonbie, Carlisle, and Glasgow. | [2] [5] | ||
19 July 1984 | Llŷn Peninsula, Gwynedd, Wales | 52.96 | −4.38 | VII | 5.4 | Felt across Ireland and western Great Britain. See 1984 Llŷn Peninsula earthquake. | [2] [5] | ||
2 April 1990 | Bishop's Castle, England | 52.43 | −3.03 | VI | 5.1 | Very widely felt in Wales and England. See 1990 Bishop's Castle earthquake. | [2] | ||
22 September 2002 | Dudley, West Midlands, England | 52.53 | −2.16 | V | 4.7 | Widely felt in England and Wales. | [9] | ||
21 October 2002 | Manchester, England | 3.9 | Largest in an earthquake swarm of 116 earthquakes, 36 of which were felt | [2] | |||||
28 April 2007 | Folkestone, Kent | 51.10 | 1.17 | VI | 4.3 | Caused significant damage in Folkestone, felt throughout Kent. See 2007 Kent earthquake. | [10] | ||
27 February 2008 | Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, England | 53.400 | −0.332 | VI | 5.2 | Felt widely in England and Wales. See 2008 Market Rasen earthquake. | [11] | ||
1 April 2011 | Blackpool, England | 2.3 | First of two minor earthquakes that were caused by fracking carried out by Cuadrilla | [12] | |||||
Note: The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability essay that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described also apply to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded. |
An earthquake – also called a quake, tremor, or temblor – is the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they cannot be felt, to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the air, damage critical infrastructure, and wreak destruction across entire cities. The seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced over a particular time. The seismicity at a particular location in the Earth is the average rate of seismic energy release per unit volume.
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale measures the effects of an earthquake at a given location. This is in contrast with the seismic magnitude usually reported for an earthquake.
Glastonbury Tor is a tor near Glastonbury in the English county of Somerset, topped by the roofless St Michael's Tower, a Grade I listed building. The site is managed by the National Trust and has been designated a scheduled monument. The Tor is mentioned in Celtic mythology, particularly in myths linked to King Arthur, and has several other enduring mythological and spiritual associations.
Tectonics are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of planetary tectonics extends the concept to other planets and moons.
The geology of Great Britain is renowned for its diversity. As a result of its eventful geological history, Great Britain shows a rich variety of landscapes across the constituent countries of England, Wales and Scotland. Rocks of almost all geological ages are represented at outcrop, from the Archaean onwards.
The Colchester earthquake, also known as the Great English earthquake, occurred on the morning of 22 April 1884 at 09:18. It caused considerable damage in Colchester and the surrounding villages in Essex. In terms of overall destruction caused it is certainly the most destructive earthquake to have hit the United Kingdom in at least the last 400 years, since the Dover Straits earthquake of 1580.
Though severe earthquakes in the north of France and Britain are rare, the 1580 Dover Straits earthquake appears to have been one of the largest in the recorded history of England, Flanders or northern France. Its effects started to be felt in London at around six o'clock in the evening of 6 April 1580, being Wednesday in the Easter week.
The 2007 Kent earthquake registered 4.3 on the Richter scale and struck south east Kent, South East England on 28 April 2007 at 07:18:12 UTC, at a shallow depth of 5.3 km.
The 1984 Llŷn Peninsula earthquake struck the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, northwest Wales on Thursday 19 July 1984 at 06:56 UTC. Measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, it is the largest onshore earthquake to occur in the UK since instrumental measurements began.
The 1990 Bishop's Castle earthquake occurred near the town of Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, England on 2 April.
On 27 February 2008 at 00:56:47.8s GMT an earthquake occurred at Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. According to the British Geological Survey the earthquake registered a reading of 5.2 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Market Rasen and 15 miles (24 km) south-west of Grimsby.
Tsunamis affecting Britain and Ireland are extremely uncommon, and there have only been two confirmed cases in recorded history. Meteotsunamis are somewhat more common, especially on the southern coasts of England around the English and Bristol Channels.
The Silverthrone Caldera is a potentially active caldera complex in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located over 350 kilometres (220 mi) northwest of the city of Vancouver and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Mount Waddington in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The caldera is one of the largest of the few calderas in western Canada, measuring about 30 kilometres (19 mi) long (north-south) and 20 kilometres (12 mi) wide (east-west). Mount Silverthrone, an eroded lava dome on the caldera's northern flank that is 2,864 metres (9,396 ft) high, may be the highest volcano in Canada.
The 1810 Crete earthquake occurred at 22:15 on 16 February. It caused great destruction in Heraklion and some damage from Malta to northern Egypt, and was felt from central Italy to Syria. 300 fatalities were reported from Candia (Heraklion).
The Gwna Group is a late Precambrian (Ediacaran) / Cambrian lithostratigraphic group in northwest Wales. The name is derived from the Afon Gwna, a river near Bodorgan on Anglesey where the strata are exposed. This rock sequence is also commonly referred to as the Gwna Mélange.
The 1185 East Midlands earthquake happened in England. It is the first earthquake in England for which there are reliable reports indicating damage. The moment magnitude of the shock was estimated to be above 5.0 and its intensity was placed at VII (Damaging) on the European macroseismic scale.
The 1382 Dover Straits earthquake occurred at 15:00 on 21 May. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.0 Ms and a maximum felt intensity of VII–VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale. Based on contemporary reports of damage, the epicentre is thought to have been in the Strait of Dover. The earthquake caused widespread damage in south-eastern England and in the Low Countries. The earthquake interrupted a synod in London that convened in part to examine the religious writings of John Wycliffe, which became known as the Earthquake Synod.
On 11 September 1275, an earthquake struck the south of Great Britain. The epicentre is unknown, although it may have been in the Portsmouth/Chichester area on the south coast of England or in Glamorgan, Wales. The earthquake is known for causing the destruction of St Michael's Church on Glastonbury Tor in Somerset.