DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70267#0321
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The History o/remarkable Earthquakes inEnglandv
and elsewhere.
The account ©f the dreadful Earthquake at Lisbon having
been given in the former Numbers of this Museum, as we
were led to suppose, that a history of those that have hap-
pened in this country might be still more interesting, the
reader may look upon the following details as copious as
the work will allow; and without going too far into any
elaborate disquisition as to . the recondite causes of this
calamity, the chronological order in which they are stated,
will, no doubt, considerably refresh the memory.—And
though England has had several awful visitations of this
kind, it will be observed, that almost all of them have oc-
curred since the year 15=80. The shocks of any of them for
700 years, past, have in general been neither great nor ex-
tensive, and have also been mostly confined within the
compass of a few miles.. This may be caused partly from
the scarcity and distance of the subterraneous caverns,
which are supposed to abound in hot countries; but where
these are more numerous, the mineral fire runs through
little openings from one great cavity to another, and aS
many mines may be sprung with one continued train of
powder, so this forces its way to an incredible distance.—
Thus, in 1586, an earthquake in Peru, ran from South to
nortn 900 miles • and in 1601 another extended from Asia
to the sea which washes the French coast, at the same time
shaking Hungary, Germany, Italy, and France. In this
case, as Mr. Boyle observes, it is not to be doubted, but
that the shock of the explosion may extend much Farther
than the danger.
o
On Wednesday April 6, 1580, about six in the evening-,,
an earthquake was felt all over England. The great clock,
in the palace of Westminster struck of itself against too
hammer, as did several clocks and bells in the citv and
p P country^
The History o/remarkable Earthquakes inEnglandv
and elsewhere.
The account ©f the dreadful Earthquake at Lisbon having
been given in the former Numbers of this Museum, as we
were led to suppose, that a history of those that have hap-
pened in this country might be still more interesting, the
reader may look upon the following details as copious as
the work will allow; and without going too far into any
elaborate disquisition as to . the recondite causes of this
calamity, the chronological order in which they are stated,
will, no doubt, considerably refresh the memory.—And
though England has had several awful visitations of this
kind, it will be observed, that almost all of them have oc-
curred since the year 15=80. The shocks of any of them for
700 years, past, have in general been neither great nor ex-
tensive, and have also been mostly confined within the
compass of a few miles.. This may be caused partly from
the scarcity and distance of the subterraneous caverns,
which are supposed to abound in hot countries; but where
these are more numerous, the mineral fire runs through
little openings from one great cavity to another, and aS
many mines may be sprung with one continued train of
powder, so this forces its way to an incredible distance.—
Thus, in 1586, an earthquake in Peru, ran from South to
nortn 900 miles • and in 1601 another extended from Asia
to the sea which washes the French coast, at the same time
shaking Hungary, Germany, Italy, and France. In this
case, as Mr. Boyle observes, it is not to be doubted, but
that the shock of the explosion may extend much Farther
than the danger.
o
On Wednesday April 6, 1580, about six in the evening-,,
an earthquake was felt all over England. The great clock,
in the palace of Westminster struck of itself against too
hammer, as did several clocks and bells in the citv and
p P country^