THE LATE EARTHQUAKE IN ENGLAND.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1697, 12 June 1884, Page 2

THE LATE EARTHQUAKE IN ENGLAND.

London files by last mail give wonderful accounts of the late earthquake. The following particulars will be of interest to ovir readers : — One of the most reniar'kable and destructive visitations of earthquake ever experienced in England occurred olrfche morning of the 22nd April. Essex and Suffolk suffered most, but Kent, Sussex, and Middlesex also experienced a tremor which, in some quarters of London particularly, caused actual alarm. The centre of agitation appears to have been near Colchester, wherej in additidri to the 1 undulations of the earth) Subterranean rumblings were heard. The shock was, however, experienced at places so far asunder as Bristol and Harwich and Birmingham, and Westgate-on-Sea. There is a concensus of opinion that the shocks were first felt, as near as possible, at 9.20 in the morning. They were preceded by a loud rolling or rumbling noise, and, in some instances, by sudden gusts of wind. Colchester and its immediate neighbourhood suffered most from the earthquake. Although the shock lasted only about 20 seconds, an extraordinary amtiunt of daniagri ifras done. Chimney-stacks fell in all directions, many of them crushing through roofs into bed -rooms, while some houses rocked, and the contents were dislodged, innumerable articles of furniture, ornaments, and machinery being broken. In a moment almost the whole of tho population of Colchester had rushed into the open air, extreme terror prevailing. Women shrieked and fainted; and, the cries of children intensified- the panic. The first impression was that the shock was caused by some gigantic explosion. About 20ft of the spire of the Congregational Church was hurled to the ground. The remaining portion of the spire is in a dangerous condition, and the masonry has been displaced almost down to the base. In the lower part of the town scarcely a house escaped damage from falling chimney-pots and stacks. T/ires were caused in three parts of the town by burning coals being ejected from stoves, but in no cases did they spread. Houses were moved bodily from their foundations. On the first alarm police were hurriedly despatched to the waterworks and gasworks, the idea of a Fenian explosion being uppermost. At the railway station a tram just about to start rooked so much that the driver was thrown off the engine on to' the platform. It is estimated that the damage done in Colchester amounts to £10,000. One child was killed and a woman severely injured by the falling debris. The village of Wyvenhoe, on the banks of the Colne, about four miles from Colchester, suffered severely. It looks, indeed, as if it had been bombarded. Hardly a chimney or chimney-stack is left standing, while many. houses are roofless, and those belonging to the poorer classes are quite dismantled. The turrets of Wyvenhoe Church were carried away, and the residence of the lord of the manor was greatly damaged.

At Chelmsf ord the shook was distinctly and generally felt, chiefly by those engaged in buildings, and more particularly by those on first, second or third floors. Her Majesty's prison vibrated, and seemed to be for a few moments agitated as a vessel woxxld be by the swell of the sea. The officials turned out to see what was amiss. The earth wave seemed to travel from north-east- to south-west — that is, from the direction of Colchester. People living 1 near the foot of the hill felt their houses rooking in a most remarkable manner for several seconds ; whilst pictures on the walls oscillated, and a horse at the top 'of the hill fell to the. groixnd. At Boreham House, the residence of Major Tufnell-Tyrell, the house-bell sounded and the hall-clock stopped. The signal-box at Chelmsford Railway Station, which stands at a great elevation, waved from side to side in the air, and the signalman was thrown against the apparatus. Patients at tho Chelmsford and West Essex Infirmary were frightened, the building being agitated for several seconds, and the furniture and pictures shaken. In Ooggeshall quite a panic took place at the National School among the girls. They rushed pell-mell for the stairs, the consequence being that several of them fell, and others tumbled over them. Several were found to be rather badly injured. At Dovercourt and Harwich the shock was distinctly felt, some houses being a good deal shaken. At Parkoston, near Harwich, it was felt with considerable force.