1906 Swansea earthquake
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UTC time | ?? |
---|---|
ISC event | n/a |
USGS-ANSS | n/a |
Local date | 27 June 1906 |
Local time | 09:45 |
Magnitude | 5.2 ML |
Epicentre | 51°35′26″N 3°47′55″W / 51.59055°N 3.79859°WCoordinates: 51°35′26″N 3°47′55″W / 51.59055°N 3.79859°W |
Type | Unknown |
Areas affected | England Wales |
Max. intensity | MSK-64 VII (Very strong) |
Casualties | Several |
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.[1]
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[2] and the Mumbles lighthouse "rocked on its foundations."[3]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "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[]
- 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
- Earthquakes in the United Kingdom
- 1906 earthquakes
- History of Glamorgan
- 1906 in Wales
- 20th century in Swansea
- June 1906 events