Britain Rattled By 4.7 Earthquake

MSNBC ^ | February 26, 2008 | Reuters

[Myrddin]

I can appreciate the wisdom of appropriate decorations in an earthquake prone area. I grew up in Chula Vista, CA and experienced a few. I was also in Federal Way, WA for a 5.5 with an epicenter about 1/4 mile from my house. It was quite a ride. The quake lasted over 30 seconds. The streets looked like garden hoses being whipped like snakes. I had to plant my hands on the hallway walls to avoid falling. My mom was in the kitchen holding the cabinet doors closed to avoid being showered with china plates and glassware.

A search of the earthquake database retrieved the two earthquakes that happened while I lived in Federal Way.

  1964,10,15,143237.50, 47.70,-122.00,4.0, 33
  1965,04,29,152843.30, 47.40,-122.40,6.5, 57

10-15-1964 at 6:32 AM (mag 4.0) and 4-29-1965 at 7:32 AM (mag 6.5). The 2nd one was the "wild ride".

[AD from SpringBay]

Didn’t know England was prone to earthquakes?

It isn't - just a sign of the times.

[Pelham]

Thanks! How close is Welsh to gaelic?

[celtic gal]

WE had that 6.5 on the central coast four years ago and it was not much fun either. I was standing in my kitchen and saw the ground move up and then roll..the noise was like an old WW II war bird that stopped over the house. The sound just kept coming but did not move on as it would if it had been a big plane...the after shocks kept many on edge for some time afterward.

[doc1019]

Amen!

[null and void]

And how could I forget crwth?

[Myrddin]

aye, and cwm is a scrabble word pretty much guaranteed to get a challenge...

As in Cwmystwyth. My friends Meredydd Evans and his wife Phyllis Kinney live there. See here. Finding that article is good news. It means they are both still alive and well. We last visited them in April 1999. It snowed while were were there. The narrow B roads are even more challenging when obscured by snow and absent guard rails to mark the edge of the road (before driving down a steep hillside in the dark).

[DesScorp]

Winston Churchill and Lord Nelson are spinning pretty hard in their graves, apparently.

[null and void]

Winding cirque?

[Myrddin]

Thanks! How close is Welsh to gaelic?

Welsh is a Brythonic family language. Others in the family include Breton and Cornish. The Goidelic family includes Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man). Both families derive from Celtic roots. There are some similarities, but MANY differences. Merry Christmas in Irish Gaelic is "Nollaig Shona Duit". In Welsh it is "Nadolig Llawen". The Breton version is "Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat". The Cornish version, "Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth". The Breton and Cornish versions included "Happy New Year". That is "Blwydden newydd dda" in Welsh.

Notice the Brythonic family is more similar than the Irish Gaelic form. I speak a little Welsh and French. When I see Breton, it comes across as a mix of the two languages. Just enough to make sense when I read it.

[Myrddin]

And how could I forget crwth?

The only time I've ever seen or heard that instrument was at a St. David's Day celebration with the Cambrian society in San Diego. That reminds me. Saturday is St. David's Day. I'll have to track down some daffodils. We still have snow on the ground, so our daffodils are still under ground. We'll make the potato/leek soup and Welsh cakes (for other in the house who aren't gluten intolerant). My son is in Pocatello now, so we can make it a family celebration.

Here are daffodils from my garden on April 15, 2004.

[razorback-bert]

I speak English, gibberish and jargon.

[null and void]

My ancestors go back further, the Precambrian society...

[Myrddin]

Cwm is a valley. Cwm Ystwyth is a winding valley. Very descriptive of the sort of blind, box canyon where the village is located. There are only about 7 houses in the village. Meredydd and Phyllis have their main house, a small guest house where their kids live and another larger building that serves as a sort of enclosed garden because the roof is completely gone.

[ladyinred]

Lots of earthquakes the past few days.

[null and void]

Authentic frontier gibberish?

[Myrddin]

My ancestors go back further, the Precambrian society...

Cute. When I walked through the cemetery at Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, I found lots of headstones with my family surname. That lead me to dig into the microfiche records at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. I found the marriage records for my great great grandparents in 1833. Pay dirt. I had the right village. I'll have to spend time cleaning up headstones in the cemetery to trace back further. I found some back to around 1450. My genealogical records are solid back to 1777. It's going to take some serious digging. Fortunately, I can read the Welsh on the headstones and in the parish records.

[null and void]

Ah. The English borrowing of the Welsh cwm refers to a specific kind of valley, the sort formed when the side of a mountain slumps out as if it were carved out with a giant ice cream scoop.

I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around describing such a divot as winding.

[peggybac]

That’s true - I live in KC and would feel it if New Madrid finally let off some steam. Unfortunately, my sister lives right outside of St. Louis.

[Bender2]

Bump while I google “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch”