188 H. G. FORDHAM — THE EAETHQIJAKE 



* T was suddenly awakened by my bed rocking backwards and 

 forwards. I cannot say bow many seconds it bad been doing so, 

 but I had time to light a lamp by my bedside before it stopped. 

 I concluded something very heavy had fallen in one of the rooms, 

 though I was at a loss to account for the prolonged and exaggerated 

 result of such an occurrence. I cannot truthfully say that I was 

 awakened by any sound, but for some time afterwards 1 lay awake 

 listening to the unusual crackings that went on in the brickwork 

 of the chimney. I looked at my clock when I woke and noticed 

 it was just about 5.30 a.m. No one else in the house had been 

 awakened, but most of the inhabitants of the village had similar 

 tales to tell of their beds shaking. In one house a short distance 

 off, a cousin of mine was awake all night, and heard curious sounds 

 in the air "like rushing water." She also experienced the same 

 rocking sensation, and heard plaster, etc., give way in the house, 

 which caused her alarm. — E. Peach, Leavesclen Green, Watford. 



Watford. — Hundreds of people in Watford were awakened from 

 their sleep by the movement of their beds and the loud rattling of 

 crockery. There was first a rumbling noise, and then a shaking of 

 the earth, occasioning the jarring of window-sashes, doors, picture- 

 frames, and even the movement of furniture. Professor Attfield, 

 r.R.S., favours us with the following particulars: — "The effects 

 of the earthquake this (Thursday) morning were felt by me in my 

 private house, ' Ashlands,' at 5.34, Greenwich time. They lasted 

 for twenty seconds. The first effect noticed was the noisy vibration 

 of a nearly empty 150-gallon cistern in a north attic of the second 

 floor. That was followed, within ten seconds, by the moderate 

 rattling of the window-sashes in my bedroom on the first floor 

 and at the south corner. The whole house shook slightly. Other 

 inmates were not awake. I was already awake. By subsequent 

 comparison of watches, I find that the effects were experienced at 

 Sudbury, Middlesex, by Mr. T. J. Hanip, at practically the same 

 timey— Watford Observer, 19 Dec, 1896. 



I was suddenly awakened, and that thoroughly, either by the 

 first shock, if thei'e were two, or by some concussion, my first 

 impression being that an explosion had occurred. Immediately 

 afterwards the windows of the room rattled violently, the bed 

 heaved perceptibly, the sensation being that a wave had passed 

 under it, and the doors of a large wardrobe swung open. The 

 shock lasted sufficiently long for me to call my wife's attention to 

 the fact that the jugs on the washstand were vibrating considerably, 

 which they continued to do for some seconds after I had spoken. 

 My son, who was sleeping in a room overhead, was aroused in 

 a similar manner, and he described the oscillation and vibration 

 as so violent that he came downstairs thinking there had been 

 an explosion in the house. The time, as nearly as possible, was 

 5.25 a.m. l^eighbours opposite seem to have had a similar ex- 

 perience, while some on either side knew nothing of the shock. 

 I annex a ground plan of room, showing position of wardrobe and 

 bed. My impression was that the wave passed under the bed 



