Old Cumbria Gazetteer - NY30: earthquake 19110516 0850


included in:-	NY30
	NY30: earthquake 19110516 0850
locality:-	Rydal
civil parish:-	Lakes (formerly Westmorland)
county:-	Cumbria
locality type:-	earthquake epicentre
locality type:-	earthquake plus
coordinates:-	NY37800984
1Km square:-	NY3709
10Km square:-	NY30
references:-	British Geological Survey 2010

evidence:-	newspaper:-
source data:-	Westmorland GazetteTranscription from the Westmorland Gazette 20 May 1911 "EARTHQUAKE IN THE DALES." "REPORTS FROM THE DISTURBED AREA." "On Tuesday morning an earthquake shock was noticed at Bowness and Windermere. Many people living in the villages who heard the noise took it for the muttering of distant thunder, more especially so after the thunderstorm of the week-end. Others might easily mistake it for the jar of a motor car in an adjacent street. It was noticed by some of the boatmen on the Bowness promenade, who had the sensation of a momentary tremor. Residents in the outlying parts of the neighbourhood, where the conditions were more favourable for forming a definite judgment, were convinced that it was an earthquake. The last sensation of the kind was several years ago." "At Ambleside the shock was experienced at about nine o'clock. In some parts it was so slight as to be scarcely noticeable, but in other places it was quite decided and caused the jingling of crockery on the tables of some who were then at breakfast." "The shock was also felt by the inhabitants of the Ullswater valley. Mr. Thomas Bownass, propietor of the Ullswater Hotel, Patterdale, experienced the sensation of the earth rising and falling, and the same instant he heard upstairs what he took to be the noise of furniture falling. He found that others in the hotel had noticed the movement, and going into the garage he asked some chauffeurs if they had noticed anything unusual. They replied that they distinctly experienced a rising and falling of the earth, and they were quite nervous. Later in the day inquiries elicited the information that at Howtown, lower down the lake, the same experience had been felt. A gentleman who had lived in India at once recognized the shocks as those of an earthquake. Peopple working in the fields also noticed the movement, but it was much more pronounced in the houses." "A correspondent writes: Just on the border of Lowther parish we felt an earthquake shock on Tuesday morning quite plainly. Whilst the shaking was akin to the vibration sometimes noticed when a heavy L.and N. W. Railway train is passing, it was more of a hushed movement, coming suddenly and going as rapidly. The doors rattled and there was as it were a sensation of a heavy foreign body trailing down the stairs and through the house, and a thrill of dread of some supernatural happening fell upon those who experienced the shock. The phenomenon was noticed about 8-53 a.m. Where persons were engaged in noisy pursuits, or there was a din of any kind going on, the shock might have passed without notice. In the case referred to the household happened to be particularly still, and the dwelling is well removed from stir and bustle." "Miss Wrigley, of the Wood, Windermere, writes: 'On Tuesday morning, as we were at breakfast, at 8-50, there was a low subterranean rumble, and a distinct vibration, recurring north to south, causing ornaments, etc., to rattle. The same was felt in my gardener's cottage here, and I hear of other residents having the same experience.'" "At Hawkshead it is stated that between a quarter and ten minutes to nine there was a long, dull rumbling, apparently from a south-easterly direction. Several people vouch that the ground shook and that household effects rattled." "Our Langdale correspondent says the shock was distinctly felt there about 8-50 on Tuesday morning. In one or two authentic cases a decided heaving was noticed in dwellings, and a rattling of household utensils was heard. For the most part, however, it was not so much vibration as sound that called the attention, and this in some cases was attributed to distant thunder, and in others to quarrying. Yet when compared to the sound of ordinary blasting with which in Langdale we are very familiar, those who heard the sound were bound to confess that this was something very different. It was too prolonged, and it seemed to rise and fall in a way quite different from an explosion." "From Brathay the report is: On Tuesday the shock was distinctly felt at Brathay, Skelwith Fold and Skelwith Bridge. The first impression was that of distant thunder, but the tremor under the feet disposed of this theory. It was also thought that an explosion at some of the gunpowder works a distance away was the cause, but the time for which the pots rattled on the dairy shelves, and the shaking of the doors and windows, dispelled this theory, until at last one and all were convinced that a slight earthquake must have occurred. The time was 8-48 a.m."

:-	Felt in central and eastern parts of The Lakes; water spilled, crockery fell down, doors banged, etc.
	Musson 1994

date:-	1911
period:-	1910s
event:-	earthquake

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