"Earthquake" felt in Guernsey

Thursday 27 July 2023

Unexploded World War Two ordinance being detonated in the Russell has set off earthquake data recorders across Europe, with the Channel Islands recorded as having experienced seismic activity at around 09:14 today.

Locally, people in the Beaucette Marina area told Express that they felt a tremor.

The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre confirmed that seismic activity was recorded in the Channel Islands region at a depth of 1km, and a distance of 6km north of St Peter Port and 47km north west of St Helier.

Data recorded by the Laboratoire de Detection et de Geophysique, France shows the 'earthquake' occurred at a Latitude of 49.51 and a Longitude of -2.52.

This data was recorded at a local time of 10:14:38.8 on 27 July, 2023.

More than an hour later Guernsey Police confirmed "At 10:15 this morning, some unexploded ordnance was detonated at sea with the assistance of the Royal Navy and Guernsey Harbours."

Pictured: The above WW2 bomb was detonated today, setting off seismic activity in the Channel.

The police statement said: "It was believed to be a German-made SC250 bomb, which was an airdropped weapon during the Second World War. It was found and identified underwater by a local diver, and arrangements have since been made to destroy it.

"Guernsey Harbours were contacted in advance to warn boat owners and ensure the area was made safe for the detonation. We'd like to thank them and the Royal Navy for their assistance."

No public announcement was made in advance of the detonation with people in the north of Guernsey feeling what they thought was an earthquake tremor.

A testimony sent to the EMSC by someone in Guernsey reads: "Shook body on sofa and made ceiling creak".

A resident south of the Bridge also felt a "rumble".

Regardless of the source of the activity, the information has been recorded in a list of seismic data collated today which includes "near the south coast of France" at 09:17:10.3 UTC which would be 10:17 here. 

There have also been other reports of seismic activity in Honduras, Nicaragua, Turkey and El Salvador.

Express asked Guernsey Police to clarify why the explosion was not announced beforehand to alert residents. 

A spokesperson said that was due to timings.

“The detonation wasn’t announced in advance as surveys had to take place to ensure the ordnance was safe to destroy using specialist divers, who had to be deployed despite the weather conditions.

"The first dive took place at 09:50. When it was confirmed it was safe, the decision was made to make the detonation soon afterwards, at 10:15.”

The detonation currently remains listed as seismic activity on European records.