1884 Colchester earthquake

Earthquake in Essex, England October 2024 June 2012 1884 Colchester earthquake yes 22 April 1884 09:18 United Kingdom Essex 4.6 ML 3 km mi on VIII 51.82 0.90 inline,titlehttp://bib.gfz-potsdam.de/pub/str0302/0302_cat.pdf An earthquake catalogue for central, northern and northwestern Europe based on Mw magnitudes / Annex. STR 03/02 GeoForschungsZentrum 68 16 December 2011 England, Essex 2 (indirect) en-UK right|thumb|Ruins of Virley church, destroyed in the earthquake 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.Osyth Parish CouncilAugust 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes 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. Earthquake At 9:18 am the earthquake struck, centred mainly in the villages of Wivenhoe, Abberton, Langenhoe, and Peldon causing the surrounding area to rise and fall violently as the waves spread, lasting for around 20 seconds. Measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale, the effects were felt across England, as well as in northern France and Belgium. It is believed that the earthquake resulted from movement along a fault in the ancient Palaeozoic rocks that underpin most of Essex, causing waves to propagate through the overlying Cretaceous and Tertiary layers. The British Geological Survey estimates that the 1884 earthquake's magnitude was only around 4.6 on the Richter scale, compared with 6.1 for the 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake.What is the most damaging British earthquake? Damage The earthquake damaged about 1,250 buildings,Haining 1976 15 including almost every building in Wivenhoe and Abberton, and in settlements all the way to Ipswich. The medieval church in Langenhoe was significantly damaged, as were those in the villages of Layer-de-la-Haye, Layer Marney, Layer Breton,Haining 1976 128–129 and Peldon.Haining 1976 81 In Peldon, the local newspapers claimed that every building had been damaged in some way. The Guardian reported that the earthquake was greeted with terror by the people near Colchester. There are some reports that between three and five people were killed by the earthquake, but this has been disputed by other contemporary accounts and later analysis, which suggest that there were no fatalities directly caused by this event. The Times reported damage "in the many villages in the neighbourhood from Colchester to the sea coast", with many poor people made homeless, and estimated the cost of the disaster at £10,000. It did, however, mention the death of a child at Rowhedge, attributed to the earthquake.Earthquake in England 23 April 1884 The Times 31115 7 Mary Saunders, of Manningtree, drowned herself in the River Stour some days later.https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article-pdf/44/1/1.14/420519/44-1-1.14.pdf Fatalities in British earthquakes The large waves caused by the earthquake destroyed many small craft. Langenhoe Church was badly damaged. Masonry tumbled off the tower, crashing into the roof of the nave and chancel. The nearby rectory was also damaged. See also List of earthquakes in the British Isles List of historical earthquakes References Notes Bibliography Haining Peter The Great English Earthquake 1976 Robert Hale 0-7091-5395-3 Further reading Musson R.M.W. The Colchester forgeries: faking photographic evidence of earthquake damage Terra Nova 2 6 1990 0954-4879 10.1111/j.1365-3121.1990.tb00131.x 661–663 1990TeNov...2..661M External links The Great Colchester Earthquake The effects of the earthquake on the area of Eastern Essex south of the River Blackwater https://web.archive.org/web/20081120035029/http://www.essex-family-history.co.uk/earthquake.htm 20 November 2008 Meldola Raphael Raphael Meldola William White Report on the East Anglian Earthquake of April 22nd, 1884 Macmiillan & Co. Essex Field Club Special Memoirs 1 1885 London https://books.google.com/books?id=yrRMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR3 1884 Colchester Colchester earthquake Colchester 1884 Colchester Colchester Category:1880s in Essex Category:April 1884 in the United Kingdom