The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-02 00:00:00

SHOCK OF AN EARTHQUAKE.

On Monday afternoon a powerful shock of earth-
quake was felt in the Island of Jersey. It was so
strong as to cause houses to totter and bells to ring.
Its course was from east to west. There was at the
time a heavy gale from the south-west in the English
Channel.

A similar shock is also reported to have been ex-
perienced at Brighton on the same day. On taking
his seat at the Police-court on Tuesday morning, the
stipendiary magistrate (Mr. Bigge) stated that in
Cambridge-road, in the western part of the town,
where he himself resides, the effect was distinctly
perceptible, tables beingshaken, large flower-pots being
swayed to and fro, and a tremulous motion given to
the floors of the houses. In other streets in the same
neighbourhood similar results ensued, and the shock is
also said to have been experienced in other parts of
the town. The time of the occurrence was a few
minutes before mid-day.

The Paris Correspondent of The Times, writing on Tues-
day, says :

Yesterday at noon, while sitting at my breakfast
table, I was suddenly alarmed by a severe shaking of
the house, and remarked that the water in a bottle
close to me was being tilted up at least three-quarters
of an inch. As there was no heavy cart passing at
the time, I concluded that this was due to an earth-
quake shock, and noted the time as 11.58 a.m. During
the day I asked different persons if they had felt any
shock. As they had not and the newspapers made no
mention of it, I thought I must have been deceived;
but as I see to-day in your columns that a shock was
felt yesterday at Jersey and French Provincial papers
report that shocks were felt towards midday at Havre
and Rouen, I no longer doubt that what I remarked
was the same movement.

A correspondent writes to The Times from
Brighton :—" I was sitting writing, when my hand
oscillated on the table, and I felt something had hap-
pened. I went to the door to ask if the front door (as
it blew hard) had been opened, and was met at the
door by two friends coming down from the second
floor, saying the empty jug in the hand-basin had
shook and rattled, and that the sofa had shook and
rocked so suddenly as to alarm the occupant, who
started up in a fright. The window at the same time
rattled to such a degree as to give the impression that
furniture was being moved in the room below in which
I was writing. There were two distinct shocks, but
the latter was the worse. The time taken-11,55 a.m.
—was after the latter.

"C. C." also writes to The Times from Blackheath-
road, Greenwich :—" I was sitting in our drawing-
room, which faces north and north-east, on Monday
morning, when I suddenly felt a very distinct heaving
motion of the room, repeated three times, with an
oppressive feeling of pressure coming from the north-
east window. I immediately said to my sister, who
was in the room, What's that?' She replied. 'I
don't know.' I listened to ascertain any cause for it
found the house, and finding none, directly said, 'lt
is the shock of an earthquake.' My sister said, Look
at the clock, and note the time.' I did so ; it was
11.52 a.m. by our hall clock, which is not far out of
the Greenwich ball time."

Another correspondent of The T iiilC3 writes from
Fareham :--" The earthquake was distinctly felt here
at precisely the same hour and for the same time as in
Ahlei ney. Sitting by the tin side reading, I felt the
chair rock under me, and remarked to a young lady
who was in the room at the time, and who
also was sensible of the shock, that either this was
an earthquake or that some very heavy guns were
being fired at Portsmouth. The motion was sufficient
to set some glass pendants on the chimney-piece
swinging. The same tremulous motion was felt by a
neighbour."