The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-21 00:00:00

SHOCK OF AN EARTHOAEr IN LTITIMOOL
AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

(From our Friday's Second Edition.)

In our last number we mentioned that the shock of ati
earthquake had been felt on Friday last, abouz, eight in thc
morning, in the neighbourhood of Blackburn, Rochdale, and
the hills which separate mid York4iire. No
damage a
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The first to

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:a on the 11t:11 June, 1839

We have now to mention that on Friday morning,
about one o'clock, or a few minutes before, a similar shock
to that described above was felt in this town, or rather two
shocks following in very rapid succession—so rapid. indeed,
that to many they appeared to be simultaneous. We can,
however, testify that there were two distinct shocks, betweet
which there was an interval of from ten to fifteen seconus.
Many people, who had retired to rest, slept so soundly
as
not to have perceived the convulsion of the.earth; but the
greater number of those whom we have had an opportunity
of seeing, felt it so strongly as to create in them consi-
derable alarm and apprehension. We have heard the
descriptions given by individuals who reside in dif-
ferent parts, but the most connected and intelligent we
have been able to obtain have been furnished to us by the
Town-cleric Mr. Radcliffe, who resides in West Derby, and
by Mr. Whitty, the head constable, whose house adjonis
the central police station between George's and Canning
docks. _ _ ...

The Town-Clerk stated to us that he had been writing in
his room till half-past twelve o'clock, when he retired. He
had been at rest a few minutes, when he was startled by the
bed shaking, and the furniture being agitated with conside-
rable violence. This lasted for a period of six seconds, or
somewhat longer; and it was followed by an apparent rum-
bling from beneath, and an indistinct noise in the dressing-
room adjoining. Some alarm was of course excited by these
unusual circumstances; and Mr. Richard Radcliffe having
experienced exactly the same sensations, the conclusion was
at once arrived at that it was the shock of an earthquake.
The noise which followed the shock, for none was observed
to precede it, appeared to the Town-Clerk and his son to
proceed from north to south ; but there was neither time
nor opportunity for marking the direction with accuracy, and
it is probable there may be a mistake in this respect, as it
does not correspond with the accounts from other parts.
No damage, that we have heard of, has been done at West
Derby. . _

The narrative of Mr. Whitty is more in detail, and from
his situation at the time will probably be found on a
comparison of all the accounts, to be the most gene-
rally accurate. He was in the parlour of his house, on duty,
in fact, taking a cup of coffee, when, exactly at five minutes
to one o'clock by the police time, he suddenly heard and
felt a violent agitation of the windows of the whole house
and of the floor in the room in which he was sitting. Being
accustomed to hear loud explosions from the works in Albert
dock now being excavated, which is at no great distance,
he was not much surprised at the noise ; but at the same time
he observed to Mrs. Whitty that he thought the excavators
had purposely caused the explosion to take place underneath
his windows. _ than a minute afterwards another

shock followed, infinitely more violent than the first; the
house shook from top to bottom ; and a violent rumbling
noise was heard under the house just as if a dozen rad-
way trains had been running through a tunnel underneath
The shock and the noise were so loud and violent as to
awaken all the family who had retired, and as if by consent,
they assembled on the stairs in a state of great alarm.
Having quietened them, Mr. Whitty went into the street,
and the policeman on duty at George's Dock bridge told him
that he was leaning against one of the pillars there, when
suddenly he thought he heard a carriage run rapidly across
the bridge, and the ground rumbling and shaking all around
him. This officer perceived two shocks. The policeman on
duty at the north end of Canning Dock was next questioned
by Mr. Whitty, and he stated that lie first observed some
casks, which were lying on the quay, move as if they were
alive ; they tumbled and shook, he added, as if some men
were concealed in them—a very professional idea for a police-
officer. After this, the house was examined, and it was
found that the windows on the second floor [French] had
been forced open by the shock, and some furniture had re-
ceived a trifling displacement, but no damage was done, and
the alarm soon subsided. Mr. Whitty added that the shock
appeared to him to proceed from east to west, and that
nothing could be more distinctly perceptible, The first
shock lasted from three to five seconds, and the second from
seven to ten seconds : and at first it appeared as if the tower
of a church, at some distance, had fallen down at one crash.

Not the least remarkable circumstance. was the agitation of
the horses in the stables throughout the town, particularly
in the South division. No damage has been done, we believe,
to the buildings in any part of the town.

In Deane-street, Kensington, and the district adjoining
the Botanic Gardens, two shocks were distinctly felt.
In Kirkdale, and especially at the House of Correction,
the shock was very distinctly felt. Mr. Amos, the governor,
was up at the time; and he states that at ten minutes before
one, the porter's lodge, and several parts of the gaol, shook
and trembled greatly. The difference in point of time of the
shock being felt-here and at other places, is probably owing
to the variation of the clocks. The house of Mr. Appleton,
which adjoins the Court-house, felt the trembling of the
earth in a still greater degree.
The shock was distinctly felt at the Standard-office. The
sensation was similar to that expeiier:ced by the houses on
the line of the Railway Tunnel, when that work was in pro-
gress, during the blastings of the rock. Our men were
" locking up the forms" at the time, and the noise was
ascribed to them. A gentleman in Mount-pleasant describes
the effect there as if his house trembled, and the beds in
every chamber were shaken. He affirms that the candle-
stick, which he feels confident lie placed at the end of the
table, appeared in the morning to be considerably moved.
The shock was felt with considerable severity on the

Cheshire shore, opposite to the north part of the Town, and
extended, (more particularly (as far as we can yet hear) over
the surface in the Wirral Peninsula, on its east side, con-
tained between Wallasey Pool and New Brighton. This
includes Seacombe, Egremont, Liscard, the Magazines,
Wallasey, &c. In Liscard and Egremont it was distinctly
felt by many persons, nearly or precisely at the same time,—
namely, ten minutes to a quarter before one o'clock.
Mr. Mathie, a gentleman in the employ of Messrs. Gibbs,
Bright and Co., and who had before witnessed several earth-
quakes abroad, was awakened by the shock at a quarter to
one o'clock by his watch. He beard the internal rumbling
noise that generally accompanies such phenomena, and sen-
sibly felt his bed-room shake. The crockery ware on the
wash-hand stand made a considerable rattling. The house
was not, however, shaken so as to crack the walls. There
could, he says, be no doubt but it was an earthquake. He
got up and dressed. Several persons in the neighbourhood
also rose from their beds in alarm—the greater part not
knowing what to make of it. The windows and doors of
many of the houses shook and rattled. A young lady in one
house was so alarmed that she ran from her own bed into
that of her sister-in-law.
Mr. Giball, in the Customs, says he was asleep at the time,
but his wife, who was awake, sensibly felt it, and awoke him.
She went to the window, and their first impression was that
some accident from explosion had taken place at the Maga-
zine. More than a dozen respectable gentlemen in the
neighbourhood felt the shock in a nearly similar manner.
In Mulbery-street the shock appeared to have been felt
severely. It is in the highest part of the town. It was also
felt distinctly in Abercrombie-square in the same neighbour-
hood. _

-
At the police-station in Buick-street (south part of the
town), the resident keeper, David Wilson, who was above in

bed became so alarmed that he ran down stairs, where it had
also been felt by Samuel Tuck, of the police, who thought
the building was sheiVen by the cart that sometimes comes to
the station._ _ . . .

In the ustom,house, decidedly the heaviest building in the
town, the keeper of the house, Mr. Bronwin, who domiciles
at the top, felt it severely and became alarmed, but could
not account for the shock. The watchman stationed in the
building below also felt it simultaneously, and states that it
made the windows and the doors shake and rattle in a violent

manner.
We have the names of many highly respectable gentlemen
residing in various parts of the town, as well as in Liscard,
Egremont, &c. ; but we do not deem it necessary to furnish
them. From their concurrent testimony, no doubt can
exist but that a commotion of the earth took place in
this locality about the time stated. Happily it was not
so severe as to injure buildings or endanger lives; yet,
taken in connexion with the recent slight shocks felt in
this county last week to the north east of Manchester, as
well as with the fearful and destructive earthquakes in some
of the West India islands. It has certainly created great
interest in some, and apprehensions, never we hope to be
realized, in others. Earthquakes of fatal effect, in this island,
are not, we believe, to be found on record.

The 'following is the account handed to us by Captain
Caldheck, of the City of Dublin Steam Company, residing
in Oliver-street, Woodside:—

" Happening to be sitting below stairs reading upon the
morning of the 17th instant, I had an ample opportunity of
experiencing the shock of the earthquake in its fullest inten-
sity. At precisely seven minutes to one, civil time, the room
seemed to stir with a laterel motion similar to that of a ship
careering gently to a slight flaw of wind ; this was succeeded
by three heavy vertical shocks, accompanied by a smothered
rumbling sound, resembling the distant boom of heavy can-
The duration of the phenomenon was about three se-
The morning, being singularly still and calm, caused
so unlooked for an interruption to wear an appearance at
once solemn and alarming.
" I am circumstantial in giving the correct time in conse-
quence of my knowledge from former experiences of these
visitations :in Peru and Chili, that the shocks I felt were
those of an earthquake, and consequently the most exact data
which could be afforded would be interesting. It is not very
improbable but we may be visited with more of these subter-
raneous movements, the same elements and agencies being
as busily at work beneath the surfaces of our islands as in
other countries; but from various causes, the combustion
being slower, we are only now beginning to participate in
evils which have devastated such portions of the globe. I beg
to say, that of the many 7'emblors I experienced in South
America this fully equalled the most violent of them. I have
often witnessed the inhabitants of Valparaiso and Lima run-
ning about the streets in the greatest terror, being alarmed
by shocks almost imperceptible. The only thing I felt BP-
proaching to our Cheshire earthquake was in the Pacific
Ocean •, the peak of Chimborazo, the highest of the Cordil-
leras, being then only barely visible, the sea was quite stnotb,
and the vessel going very smoothly through the water, when
at 6 p.m., she received three violent shocks, the vibratiopa,
noise, &c. being precisely similar to those of Friday morning
last."

OTHER PARTS OF THIS COUNTY

At Manchester the shock was severe, and was felt at pre-
cisely the same time as that experienced iu this town• In
some cases great alarm was exciwd ; one gentiman at Eccles
was led to the conclusion that thi ces were in the house,
and got up ; the same was the case with a gentleman in
Strangeways, and some others of e 'loin we lave heard.
One gentleman, who had lustres in his room, heard them
vibrate for several seconds, besides feeling the motion of his
bed. All the parties with whom we have conversed, describe
it as a momentary shock, attended with a kind of tremulous
motion, which lasted about eight or ten seconds ; hut one
or two gentlemen maintain that they felt two distinct showhecks.
Certainly this appeared to he the case in Pendleton, re
the shock was more severely felt than in any other part of
the suburbs. One gentleman, living in the neighb.ourhood
of Pendleton, was so much alarmed, that he left his house
and betook himself to the lane, where be walked about f
two hours, momentarily expecting a recurrence of the shock.
Another gentleman, residing in the same. neighbourhood
states, that his bed appeared suddenly to be jerked upwards,
the woodwork of the room cracked, and the earthenware or
glass were evidently shaken ; at the sane time there was a
dull report resembling the faint echo of a discharge of ar-
tillery at a distance. Indeed, there can be no doubt that
the shock was severe, and judging of the descriptions we
have received, we should infer that it was themost se
ere
on ;the north and west of the town, whilst imn Ch
Ardwich, and Hulme, it was less sensibly felt.
Preston was also visited by this rare occurrence. At that
town a low rumbling, subterraneous sound preceded e
shock. or rather vibration, which lasted about three seconds.
The. motion was from south south-west to north,and was
sufficiently violent to awaken a great number of sleepers. It
was most severe on the south and east ends of the town, and
in many houses articles were thrown from cornices and
mant
-
tle-pieces by it. At Walton-le-Dale it was so severe, tha
the feathered inhabitants of the rookery at Darweu Bank,
rose en masse, and wheeled round their nests in a body, ut-
tering their hoarse cries. The shock was experienced at
Poulton and Kirkham, and that at Fleetwood the shock was
Si) great as to break several windows. At the latter place