Was The Loch Ness Monster Inspired By Earthquakes?

Supposedly the first modern sightings of a monster living in the Scottish Loch Ness happened in the afternoon of April 14, 1933. Mr. and Mrs. John Mackay were traveling on the new road along the western shore of the lake when they spotted something large swimming on the lake’s surface. The Inverness Courier published the story, suggesting connections to old myths involving sea monsters. One year later, the London Daily Mail published the first photo of the unknown creature. In 1994 the photo was exposed as a deliberate hoax. Nevertheless, to this day, more than 1,000 people claim to have seen ‘Nessie’ and the area is, consequently, a popular tourist attraction, including a livestream coverage of the lake.

Some say the supposed monster of Loch Ness is a surviving prehistoric plesiosaur; for others, it is nothing more than a modern legend, influenced by the misidentification of logs swimming on the lake or large waves as a living animal.

In 2001 Italian geologist Luigi Piccardi presented at the Earth Systems Processes meeting in Edinburgh a hypothesis, explaining the supposed monster in the Loch as a result of tectonic movements, who also gave birth to the lake.

According to Piccardi, the description of the monster – appearing on the surface causing great waves – could be based on seismic activity along the Great Glen fault. The Great Glen fault is an important fault where two tectonic units – the Grampian Highlands, composed of plutonic rocks, and the Northern Highlands, composed mostly of metamorphic rocks with their sedimentary covers – meet

Loch Ness is a 22 miles long lake, located just above the fault zone. As rocks are sliding sideways against each other and break, earthquakes happen, releasing gas from the bottom of the lake and causing bubbles and waves on the water’s surface.

The hypothesis originated, Piccardi explained in an interview given to an Italian newspaper, from historic accounts of the Loch Ness monster. “There are various effects on the surface of the lake that can be related to the activity of the fault […] the beast appears and disappears disturbing the waters of the lake  […] We know that there was a period [1920-1930, a period characterized by many reported sightings of Nessie] with increased activity of the fault, in reality, people have seen the effects of earthquakes on the water.” 

According to the biography of St. Columba, the scene described by Piccardi happened in the year 565. Trying to cross the river Ness, the missionary is attacked by a beast. The original text is very vague and gives no detailed description of the event, stating only that it was an unknown beast, with the mouth wide open and emitting terrible noises. It is quite possible that the supposed encounter with the monster was added later to make the holy man’s legend bigger than real life.

The historic seismicity recorded at the lake also doesn’t seem to support the existence of an earth-shaking monster in the Loch. Earthquakes along the Great Glen fault range between a magnitude of 3 to 4, too weak to cause any observable effects on the lake. Stronger events are rare and were recorded only in 1816, 1888, 1890 or 1901 and don’t coincide with the years of supposed increased Nessie activity, like in the decade around 1933.