SCOTLAND’S EARTHQUAKE HISTORY
by Nancy Lee Badger
Earthquakes across the world have
been in the news lately. From the recent devastation in Turkey, to the
underwater quake and its accompanying tsunami that caused thousands of deaths
in Japan, when the earth moves, we listen. Even here in North Carolina, I felt
the house shake when an earthquake hit near Washington, DC just this past
August. What about another location where we rarely hear about experiencing
tremblers: Scotland. Yes, Scotland has earthquakes but unless you live there,
you probably do not hear talk of them on the news. Why, then, are earthquakes
found in my latest romantic fantasy, DRAGON IN THE MIST?
When I write a story—any story—I
research the location. To me, location is also a character, and as important as
my hero or heroine. Where a story takes place is quintessential to my plot, so my
readers can feel they are there, in the story. For DRAGON IN THE MIST, loosely
based on the Loch Ness Monster, I needed a secondary reason for my hero, the
American scientist Rory Hawthorn, to travel to a small town on the banks of
Loch Ness. When my research gave me a glimmer of an idea, I quickly made my
present-day American hero a geologist. Covertly searching for the root of a
family curse, he told his family he was traveling Scotland to research its
earthquake history.
Does Scotland experience quakes? I
was as surprised as you to find statistics reporting several large earthquakes
every century. One of Scotland’s largest quakes occurred back in 1816, so I set
the beginning of my book in the past and used my heroine, Nessía—in her Loch
Ness Monster from—causing the quakes by slamming her head into the loch’s
underwater sheer sides. 1816 fit the timeline I wanted to show in the book’s
first chapter, after which the story continues in present day.
So, what exactly causes an
earthquake? Let me start with a little
information about the area that includes Loch Ness, where my book takes place. Loch
Ness, south of Inverness, is 23 miles long and about 1 mile wide. Though
narrow, it averages a whopping 600 feet in depth, making the loch dark, cold,
and eerie. The loch is shaped like a long, deep trench and follows the line of
the Great Glen Fault. The area was originally beneath a huge glacier.
Yes, Scotland’s Loch Ness has a
fault similar to the large, active San Andreas fault in California. Luckily for
the residents of the Highlands of Scotland, the Great Glen Fault is much less
active, but it has seen activity for over 400 million years. Scientists have
discovered Foyers and Strontian granite from the same intrusion now 66 miles
apart. Let’s just agree the land is shifting and moving, slow but sure.
Guess where the shatter belt of
rock produced by the fault movement mostly lies? Under Loch Ness! Visitors to Urquhart castle overlooking the
loch might not have noticed the shattered rock evident in road cuttings. Heat
and stress evidence tells local geologists that movement occurred over and
over.
Let’s get back to the earthquake
frequency. The Loch Ness area, where DRAGON IN THE MIST is set, averages 3
earthquakes each century that measure at least a 4.0 on the Richter Scale, the
method used to describe an earthquakes ferocity. In comparison to the strengths
and amounts of quakes that hit the state of California, Scotland’s rumbles are
rare. Could I use such a history in my story? You bet! I twisted this history
to claim that my heroine, Nessía of the Lake, caused the earthquakes while in
her serpentine, underwater wingless dragon form.
Why not? In fiction, even in a
romance where I have set my story and its characters in our same world, I have
the freedom to change the rules a little.
What
about other areas of Scotland? I found an article from August 2011 about recent
Scottish earthquakes. Apparently, five earthquakes were felt in the west
Highlands followed by the recording of three lesser quakes. The British
Geological Survey (BGS) recorded the first and largest, of 2.9 magnitude, at
Lochailort, with smaller quakes recorded between 11:13 and 18:24. The weekend's
events occurred in the Lochaber Geopark. As reported by the BBC.com/UK, Park
director Noel Williams said: "Most earthquakes in Lochaber occur as
unweighting of the earth after the melting of the ice formed during the last
glacial period some 12,000 years ago. The land effectively 'bounces back up
again' a process Earth scientists term isostatic rebound."The BGS said
earthquakes were a common event in the west Highlands but added that to have
five on the same day was "slightly unusual".
As I
mentioned earlier, earthquakes measuring over 4.0 are rare, but these smaller
quakes still made the news because they were noticeable in quiet places, during
a quiet time. A previous quake was reported in Knoydart on 30 July. Earthquake ‘swarms’
have also been recorded in Dumfrieshire and in parts of Perthshire. I did find
another story reporting a 3.5 quake rocked the western shores of Scotland in
January 2011, which included the southern end of Loch Ness. People in Inverness,
at the northern end of Loch Ness, reported feeling it over 120 km away. It is
safe to say Loch Ness rippled!
The islands off the western coast
of Scotland were formed by volcanoes, and volcanoes breed quakes. I set my book
DRAGON’S CURSE on the island of Staffa due to its odd hexagonal rock formations
and huge caves. Scotland has no dormant or active volcanoes, but plenty of
‘plugs’. A plug is the remainder of the neck of a Volcano. Devil’s tower in
Wyoming is a good example of an ancient volcano neck. In Scotland, ancient
dwellings have been discovered on the summit of North Berwick Law, the rounded
volcanic remains which sit 613 feet above sea level. It even has a ‘tail’
caused by a retreating glacier. A famous tourist attraction sits on another plug:
Edinburgh Castle.
Earthquakes might be considered a minor aberration in Scotland…unless you live there! What my research taught me, is that you never know what you might find when you delve into the history behind the topography of a book’s location. Use the facts to your advantage when writing to give your readers a better perspective while they fall in love with your characters. And to my readers, I hope you fall in love with Nessia, Rory, and Scotland when you read DRAGON’S CURSE and my latest release, DRAGON IN THE MIST.
BOOK
BLURB
Life without love is not worth
living.
After centuries
pass, Nessía again searches for love. When Rory Hawthorn, an American
scientist, arrives under the pretext of researching the earthquakes but in
reality to research his MacDonald heritage and the curse, she believes she has
found the perfect mate.
Amid stolen kisses, another earthquake, a steamy night of passion, and a broken heart, Nessía returns to the murky depths of the loch. When Rory dives in to follow her, he meets the green, scaly Loch Ness Monster. Assuming Nessía is in danger, he is intent on killing the monster and saving the woman he loves.
EXCERPT
“Why
did he call you Nessie? You obviously don’t like it. What’s your real name?”
the stranger asked while his gaze bore into her chest.
Let him feast
his eyes.
He
sipped his ale, all cool and calm, as he waited for an answer. She pulled back
both shoulders. Waiting until he glanced up, she turned away to ring up a
departing customer’s bill, then added the excess to her apron pocket.
Ha! Monty gave
me a ‘tip’ then left me for his wife.
“I
do not share familiarities with strangers, sir.” She preferred to tug the
dress’s lace edging up, but held back. The trim chafed her low neckline and
upper arms, but Mac insisted his servers dress in period costume.
“For
the tourists, lass,” Mac explained the day she walked in and asked for a job.
She did not mind the long dress and doeskin shoes, per se. The whole idea of
clothing was bothersome. She enjoyed swimming to the dark depths of the loch
clad only in deep green scales.
Even
now, she yearned to swim naked.
“Well,
now. I can fix that.”
It
took Nessía a few heartbeats to understand his comeback. Did he refer to her
clothing, or to swimming naked? Only one
way to find out. “Fix what, sir?”
“I’ll
introduce myself, and then you tell me your name. ‘Easy as pie, and polite as
rain’, my father always said.”
Nessía
froze. No, her response caught in her throat and her blood thickened into ice.
Fingering the coins in her apron, she willed her talons to stay retracted while
her left foot tapped the plank floor. The stranger’s sultry voice was not
familiar, but the words rang true, because Monty had spoken those, centuries
ago.
Nessía
stepped closer to the bar. A million questions popped into her head, but she
stayed silent. Let him speak first and
prove he has no affiliation to that damnable clan.
“I
go by Rory Hawthorn. Though I’m American, I’ve traced my ancestors to this
town. I plan to be here for quite some time exploring. Learning. Studying the
unusual earthquake history of the area.”
Earthquakes?
What would he say if he knew I caused those tremors?
Rory
Hawthorn, so called, moved closer. He leaned on the bar, and whispered as if
the next words were for her ears only.
“And
I very much want to know you better.”
AUTHOR BIO
Nancy loves chocolate-chip shortbread,
wool plaids wrapped around the trim waist of a Scottish Highlander, the clang
of dirks and broadswords, and the sound of bagpipes in the air. Nancy lives the
dream. After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons
in New Hampshire, Nancy moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. She
and her family continue to volunteer at the New Hampshire Highland Games each
fall. Nancy is a member of RWA, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Sisters In
Crime, FF&P Romance Writers, and the Celtic Heart Romance Writers.
Check out her website www.nancyleebadger.com
and her blog www.RescuingRomance.nancyleebadger.com.
Follow her on Twitter @NLBadger
and on Facebook http://on.fb.me/scmtx5
Title: DRAGON IN THE MIST
Author: Nancy Lee BadgerGenre: Romantic Fantasy
Length: 17,000 words
Amazon: http://amzn.to/nNpfNV
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/pzEYYh
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/oKGRDY
18 comments:
Thanks for having me here today, Eliza. Research can be fun!
Nancy, cool information about earthquakes, Scotland Loch Ness. Research on a project is always half the fun for me. Your story sounds like a great read. I wish you success with it.
WOW, Nancy, thats a great informative Post; thanks for sharing. Ive always loved Scotland and never knew that about earthquakes there.
Loved the excerpt, too!
hugs, Kari Thomas, www.authorkari.com
Very interesting. I believe the location is another character and can be a hero or a heroine depending on the slant of the story. My story has an underwater earthquake so this caught my attention from the start. This will make my winter reading short list.
Mary George
Loch Ness sounds like a reversal of Long Island, which is a glacial formation and, so called, because it is long rather than wide. dissimilar geohistories, too! XD
I bet your a fun person to travel with!
I had no idea that Scotland had earthquakes and found your post fascinating. You're quite right about setting being another character. I love your connection between earthquake & the Loch Ness monster. Very cool!
Many people living in England and Scotland today, don't realise that England and Scotland lie on separate tectonic plates, or its implications.
520 million years ago, England and Scotland were separated by 4500 kilometers of ocean, the Iapetus Ocean. The movement of these two plates has bought the land masses together.
The Iapetus Ocean was the embryonic Atlantic Ocean. Geologists took the name Iapetus from mythology, for a clever reason. The Atlantic takes its name from Atlas in mythology. And Iapetus was the name of the father of Atlas.
Fascinating, Nancy! You are a wealth of wonderful information!
Great comments, guys. You are all THIS CLOSE to winning that cute calendar. Research is fun, but sometime I hope to visit Scotland.
Hi Nancy:
There's nothing like good solid research when it comes to history. I absolutely hate reading a historical novel with lousy research whether it is location, language, clothing, and/or day to day life. One of my pet peeves is reading a novel taking place with the flora and fauna wrong. A magnolia tree blooming in winter with a temperature of 30 deg. is just one example.
Good luck on your books. BTW, I going back to Scotland next summer.
I had no idea Scotland experienced earthquakes! Thanks for sharing such an interesting post!
lvsgund at gmail.com
Ruby is going to Scotland soon. How neat is that? I will have to sell alot more books before my dream to visit the area comes true. In the meantime, I will continue to research.
Wow, great research! It really draws you in. Writers priviledge to twist and rumble the plot from time to time. Keep up the Great Work. Sue B.
Hi, Nancy. Enjoyed reading your article about Scottish earthquake activity. Thanks for sharing your research.
And the winner is... Kari!
Yay, Kari! An e-mail is on the way to you. I will ship the cute Scottish Calendar soon. Thanks to everyone who left a comment. Today (Nov. 13th) is my birthday. How wonderful to celebrate it by giving away a gift!
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