Retro: Early morning earthquake shakes Edinburgh and neighbourhood (1801)
On Monday morning, September 7, 1801, at about six o’clock, many of the inhabitants of Edinburgh and neighbourhood were alarmed by a “smart shock” of an earthquake, which continued for two or three seconds, and was preceded by “a rumbling, rushing, hollow noise from the ground”.
The News Letter reported: “It, had a tremulous, undulating motion, something resembling the motion of the waves of the sea. Beds, tables, chairs, &c in some houses were observed to shake, resembled the rocking of a cradle. Some persons who felt it had a very disagreeable sensation, attended with a headache.”
It continued: “We have heard of no damage being done by it in this city. It would appear it extended along the Forth to the westward, as far as Stirling, where some little damage was done amongst the crockery ware.
“The morning was gloomy, warm, and calm; the barometer high, and the thermometer about 50. The preceding day, Sunday, there was a good deal of rain. A parrot in a gentleman’s house in the south side of the town, screeched several times during the shock, in the same manner these birds do in the West Indies, during an earthquake; and in one house the bells were set a ringing.”
It would seem that the shock had been “pretty general” and there were accounts of it from “several miles distance, both in the west and east direction”.
The News Letter published the following account which had come from Dunfermline, some 16 miles from Edinburgh.
“ A slight shock of an earthquake was felt here this morning, exactly at six o’clock. Its duration it is supposed, was only two seconds. People who were in high storeys, and consequently had the best opportunities of observation, thought they felt two small shocks, and in their situations, things that were hanging on the walls were evidently moved from their places, occasioning some noise.
“Many people were wakened from their sleep by the motion which they felt in their beds, which they generally describe by the rocking of a cradle, or as if a person had lifted up one side of the bed from the floor, to which a tremulous motion succeeded for a short space. No noise, as far as I can learn, has been heard, either in the air, or from the bowels of the earth, nor has it been accompanied with any sulphurous smell.
“I understand the shock to have been generally felt on the side of the Forth. On the west, it was observed at Torryburn, Culross, Kincardine, and Alloa; on the north, at Kinross, Dollar, and Foffaway; and on the east at Aberdour, Kinghorn and Kirkaldy [sic].
“In Aberdour some windows are said to have been broken but I have not heard of any damage any where else. There was no previous appearance in the atmosphere to portend any convulsion; a good deal of rain had fallen yesterday, and through the night; the barometer was about 88.5, for some time before and at the time it happened the thermometer was at 50c. It has been followed by a fine warm day, and a clear serene sky. Taking all these circumstance, it is not unlikely that some violent convulsions may have happened on the Continent; which I am more inclined to suspect from the shock being extended.”
From Grangemouth it was learned that over all that neighbourhood, “two pretty severe shocks were felt one at four, and the other at six in the morning”.
Some people in Edinburgh also thought they had felt a small shock at about four in the morning.
“It was definitely felt at Glasgow, 44 miles from hence at six same morning,” added the correspondent from Scotland.
They added: “[On the] same morning, the gable of a barn, a few miles to the westward of this city, where some shearers were sleeping, fell in, whether from the instability of the building; or the concussion of the earthquake, is uncertain; but the unfortunate tenants were completely buried in the rubbish. When the accident was discovered, and these poor people were dug out, two women were found dead, and another very much bruised, who was immediately brought to the Royal Infirmary here. The others, eight or ten in number, were not much hurt.
“That morning also, the large tenement in Paterson’s-Court, adjacent to the foundation now digging for erecting the new building for the bank of Scotland, sunk so considerably, that it was thought to be dangerous to the inhabitants to continue to live in it. It has been accordingly condemned by the Dean of Guild Court as insufficient; and the inhabitants have removed from it.”
Meanwhile it was observed at Leith that “the tides for these three days past, have not ebbed so much as is usual at this time of the moon, so much so, that the workmen at the New Dock have not been able to accomplish the work they ordinarily do while the tide is out.”
The correspondent from Scotland concluded: “The above is what we have been able to collect from those who observed this phenomena, so remarkable in this country. We must at the fame time notice, that the far greater part of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, many of whom were out of bed, and going about their usual employments at the time it happened, did not observe it; while others who discerned it, describe it as minutely as if they had been waiting for such an event.”