§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in theOffical Report the levels of seismic movements which have occurred in each Scottish region in the past 10 years.
Mr. JacksonSeismographs operated by the British Geological Survey have detected and located natural and mining-induced earthquakes in the past 10 years as follows:
Region Number of earthquakes located Number of earthquakes with Richter magnitude of 2 or more Borders 50 1 Central 182 9 Dumfries and Galloway 37 5 Fife 51 0 Grampian 3 0 Highland 193 48 Lothian 871 7 Orkney 0 0 Shetland 1 0 Strathclyde 118 18 Tayside 45 3 Western Isles 0 0 Total 1,551 91 Earthquakes that have a Richter magnitude of 2 or more can often be felt; seismic movements below this level are not usually noticeable.
The distribution of seismograph stations has varied in recent years, and with it the ability to detect and locate seismic events. Prior to 1980 only one seismograph was operated north of Dundee on the Scottish mainland.