Sunday 23 January 2011

Earthquake

An earthquake hit Glenuig at 0602 this morning, British Geological Survey report here. It was felt by several residents of Kilchoan and over a much wider area, as far as Oban and Inverness. Locals reported both a rumbling sound and movement - the latter enough to shake sleepers awake. Several to whom The Diary have spoken this morning described the sound as similar to a truck moving fast down a cobbled street.

The earthquake's epicentre (the point where rock movement occurred) was almost ten miles below Glenuig (on the road between Acharacle and Mallaig), but this is relatively shallow.

A map to show location of Glenuig is here.

Many thanks to Gillespie and Sue for contacting The Diary.

6 comments:

  1. Yes, this woke us up in Fort Augustus too. It reminded me of when I used to live in Japan!

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  2. I was staying in the Glenuig Inn and was awoken by the sound, right place right time it was great, the power off the earth

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  3. The Diary had the news posted hours before the BBC!

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  4. Heard in Kilchoan around 6am, sounded similar to the last quake - like a train hurtling past at high speed, fairly loud but did not feel any movement. A bit alarming at the time! Hope they don't become too regular!!!

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  5. Some interesting comments coming in by email - one from Sue Cameron to say that the local pheasants were very noisy just before the event, and that her dogs were unusually restless. Animals do seem to be able to sense an impending earthquake and have been used to predict earthquakes. Also that the earthquake was felt much more severely in Acharacle, which one would expect since it's nearer to Glenuig, though this doesn't always happen: one of the main factors that affect how much damage is done is the underlying rock type.

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  6. we had an earthquake here in Glenborrodale at 3.45pm today and 3 more rumbles at 4.00pm,5.10pm and another at 6.45pm could feel the ground shake with the first one.

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