Warning!

Javascript is disabled on this browser.
Javascript must be enabled for this website to display and function correctly.

ARGYLL

  1. Summary
  2. Maps
  3. Additional Information
Summary
DATE28/11/1880
ORIGIN TIME17:45:00 UTC
LOCATION 56.190 -5.300
DEPTH 25.0 km
MAGNITUDE5.2 ML
LOCALITYARGYLL

Maps
Location.CLICK FOR A LARGER VERSION
Google Map
Additional info

This was the largest of all recorded Scottish earthquakes, and was felt all along the west coast of Scotland, east as far as Perthshire, throughout the Inner and Outer Hebrides, and extensively in Northern Ireland. However, nowhere was the intensity very high, and the distribution of intensity was rather irregular. This is probably explained by (a) a deep focus, (b) the complex geology of the region and (c) differential attenuation across the Highland Boundary Fault. The distribution is analagous to the intensity distribution of the smaller 1976 Oban earthquake, which was also irregular - a good example of how modern macroseismic monitoring helps to understand the past. This combination of factors has lead to some widely differing interpretations of where the epicentre was (Musson 1989a). The most probable location is near Loch Awe, between Oban, Inveraray and Lochgilphead. An aftershock was felt at Inveraray.

Sources: Musson (1989b).

Did you feel it