BGS have recorded the controlled detonation of a WW2 German Penetration Bomb that was found by the Royal Navy during a routine survey at Twelve Quays dock in Birkenhead, Merseyside. It is reported to have been “one of the most powerful and destructive bombs dropped on the City of Liverpool during WW2”. Royal Navy divers moved the bomb out to deeper waters in the Liverpool Bay area to detonate it safely. The following preliminary information is available for this explosion:
DATE : 16 May 2006
ORIGIN TIME : 20:01 38s UTC
LAT/LONG : 53.53° North / 3.33° West
GRID REF : 310.5 kmE / 405.1 kmN
DEPTH : 0 km
MAGNITUDE : 1.2 ML
LOCALITY : Liverpool Bay, (18 km west of Formby)
Above: Seismogram of controlled explosion, Liverpool Bay, as recorded on BGS instruments in North Wales and Hereford.
Above: map showing the location of the explosion.
The use of Ordnance Survey topography above is
for display purposes to assist the user in locating the seismic
event described. For information regarding copyright limitations,
please refer to: BGS copyright pages
For full news story, see BBC news online
Issued 17 May 2006
