One hundred and sixty two years ago, the residents of Manchester were shaken from their beds by an earthquake at around three minutes to four in the morning.
The quake, was felt across Northern England and in Ireland and from as far afield as London and Glasgow, was centered on the North Wales town of Caernarfon.
The Manchester Guardian reported that during the day, the earthquake engrossed all conversation in the town during the day.
A report from a man in Cornbrook described it causing a tremulous vibratory motion from North to South moving his bed from head to foot while a man in Sale who had lived for nine years in St. Domingo and was thus well acquainted with earthquakes, awoke and recognized the signs immediately as those of a “badly built house when a cart house rattles by.”
At Timperley Hall and Longford Hall, the residents felt a shock while at Davyhulme Hall, a lighted lamp on the young lady of the house vibrated upon the table.
A solicitor in Bowden was awoke with his bed vibrating and a cotton spinner and his friend in Parr’s Wood were woken by their furniture shaking.
According to the paper, some persons felt a sensation of sickness and dogs were frightened and trembled.
The City was though spared the noise of rumbling which was heard closer to the epicenter and around Liverpool where a person walking along the docks in Bootle was convinced it was ships firing their guns and ran home to retrieve his.
The Spectator Magazine also reported on the events in the North of England
An earthquake was distinctly felt at different points of the North-west- ern counties before daybreak on Tuesday morning. The weather had been wet and sultry for some days. On both banks of the Mersey, espe- cially in the suburbs of Liverpool, persons were awakened out of their sleep by the rocking of their beds like a cradle. One says that ” the bed shook so I’ grasped it, quite startled” ; and he heard a “subdued rum- bling,” Another was roused by ” a loud noise and a tremulous motion of the house.” A third ” heard five or six vibrations ” of sound, gra- dually decreasing. To a fourth it seemed as if a ” very heavy person were walking across the room-floor.” “The wooden rings” on the bed of a fifth “rattled as if some one had violently pushed them.” Captain Grieg, head constable, woke up thinking. burglars were in the house. The earthquake was heard and felt by the police-officers on duty. The shock was distinct at Chester, and along the Birkenhead and Chester line ; at Holy- head; Bangor, Conway, and Congleton, ” accompanied by aloud noise.” At Manchester, and various towns lying-round Manchester, it was most distinctly felt : “something hire the vibration felt in a badly-built house when a heavily-laden carriage rattles past ” ; crockery rattled ; a young lady saw her dressing-table ‘vibrate ; several -persons spoke of sickness” ; “dogs trembled and were much frightened.” Nearly all the accounts agree in specifying half-past four as the time, and in de- scribing the motion as a “lateral vibratory one.”
More recently the city has received its fair share of quakes, none more so than in October 2002 when at least five teen earthquakes shook Greater Manchester over twenty four hours and one measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale shaking the city during lunchtime with police reporting up to 190 calls from concerned residents.
