198 years earlier there was a very similar event , the magnitude 5.8 – 6.0 1382 Dover Straits earthquake , with an estimated epicentre not far from that estimated for the 1580 event . Two later quakes in the Dover Strait , in 1776 and 1950 , both thought to be around magnitude 4 , were noted in the 1984 compilation by R.M.W. Musson , G. Neilson and P.W. Burton . None in this study occurred before 1727 , but the same team devoted an article to the 1580 earthquake that year , the classic study . Some scientists have suggested that the 1580 , 1776 and 1950 quakes are all linked to periodic tectonic activity that results in a tremor occurring in the Dover Straits approximately every 200 years
1382 Dover Straits earthquake
1382 Dover Straits earthquake
1580 Dover Straits earthquake