3 Review(s)

First published in 1924, this classic volume details the history of British earthquakes from the year 974 to the beginning of the twentieth century. Building on material laid out in his 1912 volume The Origin of British Earthquakes, Charles Davison based his method of investigation on the theory that earthquakes were the results of successive steps in the growth of faults. Using a modification of the well-known Rossi-Forel scale, and with reference to the latest scientific studies of his time, he compiled a catalogue of all known British earthquakes. Davison was at pains to include only those earthquakes that were undoubtedly British, omitting many disturbances which had been doubtfully placed in other British lists of his time. His aim was to trace the zones in which crust-changes occurred and where the faults were still live, and to uncover some of the laws that govern the growth of faults. Additionally, Davison included a chapter describing 'Extra-British' earthquakes, examining disturbances felt in Britain that originated in Ireland, the Channel Islands, Norway, and as far away as Lisbon. His concluding chapters address the sound phenomena, distribution, and origin of different types of earthquakes.