If it was a few days earlier we would have passed it off as an April Fool’s Day prank.
The news that Donegal suffered a 2.4 magnitude earthquake last Sunday night certainly raised a few eyebrows.
And it’s not the first time that the earth has moved in Donegal with lots of previous earthquakes being recorded in Donegal over the years – the last one being felt in Fanad in 2017.
But why exactly does this happen in Donegal?
Physics teacher at St Columba’s College in Stranorlar, Brendan O’Donoghue has installed special equipment at the school which records earthquakes which students can study.
Here he explains the most likely and simple reason why Donegal is hit by earthquakes.
“In a nutshell, Stephen, the earthquakes in Donegal are most likely due to the faults running through the county from SW to NE.
“These are remnants of the collision between Laurentia and Gondwana, ancient continents that converged and closed roughly 500 – 400 million years ago. This continental collision formed the mountains that today run through Scandinavia, Scotland, NW Ireland and the eastern parts of North America (the Appalachians).
“North America and Europe then separated starting 50 million years ago during the Tertiary Volcanic Period. This activity formed the volcanic features of Northern Ireland, like the Giants’ Causeway.”
A look at the Geologic Survey of Ireland’s Spatial Resources website selecting the layer for “Bedrock Geology 500K” will show the swarm of faults running through Donegal.
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