Open AccessEarthquake of 4 November 1898 in northern Europe: New insights
Author(s) -
Mäntyniemi Päivi
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2007jb005461
Subject(s) - epicenter , seismology , intraplate earthquake , magnitude (astronomy) , geology , induced seismicity , aftershock , seismic hazard , peak ground acceleration , mercalli intensity scale , richter magnitude scale , tectonics , ground motion , scaling , physics , geometry , mathematics , astronomy
The earthquake of 4 November 1898 UTC is a rare event in terms of the size of the area of perceptibility that extended to Finland and Sweden located in the intraplate northern Europe. Previously unknown macroseismic reports were discovered in a thorough search of the contemporary press in this study. The comprehensive collection of written documentary records is used to prepare an intensity data point map. The slightly damaging intensities (5, 5–6, and 6 on the European Macroseismic Scale) are distributed over a larger area than outlined earlier. This is attributed to the amplification of ground shaking by the soil characteristics in the river valleys where habitation concentrated at that time. The new epicenter is located within a north‐south‐oriented seismicity trend that shows frequent microearthquakes and runs parallel to a mapped shear zone. The magnitude of the main shock is inferred to be within the range from 4.4 to 4.7, and the magnitude of the immediate aftershock is inferred to be between 3.7 and 4.1. A theoretical relationship of intensity attenuation is employed in the inference of the magnitude. The macroseismic reports show that earthquakes of this size posed an indirect hazard of fire to the dwellings in a region where earthquake‐related problems have previously been considered absent.