Only the most desperately pedantic
paleoseismologist would mention that
April 6 was the 431st anniversary of the
1580 Dover Straits earthquake. As with
the Basel event, there's considerable
doubt about the Richter strength of the
event: estimates range from 5.3 to 6.0.
There is also no general agreement on
which fault or faults were involved, or
where the epicenter is likely to have
been. In a daring leap of logic,
unencumbered by statistics, sampling
sizes, correlations or other
considerations, several Puritan theorists
of the time asserted the quake was
caused by London's emphasis on theater.
We note that English drama has not had
a Jonson or a Shakespeare in 400 years.
Since England has been largely
earthquake-free, perhaps the Puritans
were correct. We are hard at work trying
to determine what literary effort might
have triggered the 2007 Kent event.
paleoseismologist would mention that
April 6 was the 431st anniversary of the
1580 Dover Straits earthquake. As with
the Basel event, there's considerable
doubt about the Richter strength of the
event: estimates range from 5.3 to 6.0.
There is also no general agreement on
which fault or faults were involved, or
where the epicenter is likely to have
been. In a daring leap of logic,
unencumbered by statistics, sampling
sizes, correlations or other
considerations, several Puritan theorists
of the time asserted the quake was
caused by London's emphasis on theater.
We note that English drama has not had
a Jonson or a Shakespeare in 400 years.
Since England has been largely
earthquake-free, perhaps the Puritans
were correct. We are hard at work trying
to determine what literary effort might
have triggered the 2007 Kent event.
