Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
1829. The date is written on a stone of one of the windows of the choir. The church
is presently in a good state, which makes the search for earthquake traces difficult.
We could, however, tell that the side aisles were built more recently by their materials
and better maintenance than the choir and the tower on which several cramp irons are
visible.
In
Racour
the historical sources mention that the church was also damaged by the 1828
earthquake, especially its tower, which was cracked and of which the spire had to be pulled
down. The examination of the present tower shows a significant number of cramp irons on
one of its walls, which are also bulging.
In some other cases, the historical reports mention damage in churches without giving
any detail, but a visit to these places revealed pathologies and repairs that correspond to
damage typically observed with this earthquake. This is the case for the church of
Melin
.
In the case of the church of
Grand-Hallet
, there is no mention of specific damage, but
the church council reported that the building repair costs were around 1500 florins. This
cost is relatively similar to that necessary to repair the badly damaged church of Berloz,
suggesting that the damage in the church of Grand-Hallet caused by the earthquake was
also significant. Indeed, several pathologies and repairs are presently visible: cracks under
and above windows, a keystone that had moved, damaged reflex angles, cracks in the vaults,
placing of ties in the vaults, and a strange Y-shaped crack at the level of the choir. Some of
these must be consequences of the 1828 earthquake.
Several churches are so well restored that damage or repairs mentioned by the historical
sources are not visible today. This is the case for the church of
Opheylissem
. Historical
sources mentioned damage to such an extent that the church had to be closed for some time
after the earthquake.
It is interesting to notice that, among the churches known to have been affected by
the 1828 earthquake, there are a few that present important pathologies whereas historical
sources do not mention serious damage caused by this earthquake. Some of these patholo-
gies look like pathologies of seismic origin. The church of
Perwez
is a good example of
this. The historical sources only mention the fall of objects and pieces from the ceiling.
However, the walls under and above all the windows of this church are cracked inside and
outside of the building. The ceilings of the side aisles and the vaults are cracked too. The
tower was restored at one point and some cramp irons were emplaced. The keystones of
windows are lowered and one of them describes a rocking motion, which is characteristic
of earthquakes damage.
Some of the churches were demolished at approximately the time of the earthquake.
We therefore suspect that some of these churches could have been so badly damaged by
the 1828 earthquake that they needed to be demolished afterwards. This seems to be the case
for the village of
Dion-le-Val
, where a new church was built in 1837: “ . . . an earthquake
in 1828 significantly cracked the bell tower. The building was in danger of collapsing and
it was necessary to build a new one.” (
Bulletin du Cercle historique de Chaumont-Gistoux
,
44, 2003, p. 16).
