100 The East Anglian Earthquake.
north to south and of the other from east to west. None
of my bells rang ; they are hung in a line running B. to W.
The glass back of my sideboard which faces E., oscillated,
and was the object which most attracted our attention.
None of us noticed any noise except that caused by the
motion of the sideboard, &c. My house is built of brick, and
is situated on a loamy stratum, about 8 feet in thickness,
overlying the London Clay, and stands 110 feet above the
sea-level, on a bank sloping southward. Chalk is reached at
a depth of about 240 feet.
From enquiries I have made of the leading inhabitants of
this town, I find that in most of the houses the bells rang
more or less, but in some instances violently. In many
cases also clocks stopped, but so far as I can gather, the
ringing of bells and stoppages of clocks was quite inde-
pendent of the direction of their vibration. I have not
heard of any well in this neighbourhood in which the water
has been affected.
Two chimneys were thrown down, and this may be said to
represent all the damage that was patent.
The exact time of the occurrence is generally stated to be
9.20 a.m."
The chimneys thrown down were at houses in Bridge
Street and Church Street respectively. The tall chimney at
the gas-works was also seen to oscillate considerably, and a
5 inch gas main was reported to have been broken across.
Mr. R. M. Kirkham reports that he was sitting on a stool in
his office in Bridge Street, and was much alarmed by the
oscillation of the building, which produced a sensation
of dizziness ; he states that the stool appeared to rock from
W. to E.
Copford, 4 miles W.S.W. of Colchester.—Mr. Henry Laver
reports that at a farmhouse near here milk in pans in the
dairy was first sent over towards the N.E. and then back
towards the S.W.
Danbury, 4 miles E. of Chelmsford. Shook felt through-
out the village; doors, windows, &c. rattled; bells rung in
many of the houses ; no structural damage. Planks in the
timber-yard were seen to oscillate. The shock was felt and
the crockery made to rattle on the shelves in a cottage on
Danbury Heath.