Britain was shaken by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake at 12.56am this morning which was felt by people from Yorkshire to the South Coast.

Thousands of people reported their homes being shaken violently and furniture moving, and hundreds more took to the streets for safety and to check for damage.

The epicentre of the tremor, which measured 4.7 on the Richter scale, was centred on the village of Holton cum Beckering, about 15 miles northeast of Lincoln. According to the US Geological Survey, the epicentre was 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from the Earth’s surface.

Glenn Ford, a senior seismologist at the British Geological Survey (BGS), said: “It’s an extremely large earthquake in UK terms but not large in world terms; we’d classify it only as a light earthquake."

 Source : Times Online

Police in the Midlands received more than 5,000 calls in hour and in Dudley 12 people walked into the police station in their pyjamas.

People reported buildings as large as blocks of flats shaking for up to 30 seconds when the quake struck at 12:56:45.

There was damage to property and localised power cuts but no reported deaths or serious injuries.

Among the thousands who experienced the tremor was Ben Sweeting in Scunthorpe, who told The Times: “My whole house shook like it was going to fall over and it felt as if the whole roof was coming off. I thought a tree had been thrown into the roof by a tornado or something. Everyone in Scunthorpe is out on the streets now talking about it.”

Kevin Simons, 45, from Hannington near Northampton, said: “I was lying in bed, I had been there for about an hour, and the whole house shook, the whole house was moving.

"It lasted about 45 seconds. My wife was petrified. We thought the house was coming down, I knew it was an earthquake straight away.

"It was as strong as I have ever felt anywhere and I lived on the west coast of America for four years.”

Anna Waddell was at home in Hampstead, London, with her husband and three children when the tremors struck.

Anna Waddell was at home in Hampstead, London, with her husband and three children when the tremors struck.

She said: “The house started creaking and then the bed started shaking, it was very spooky and completely frightening.

"It was like the house was sort of coming away from itself. It was like a giant was walking about in the garden."

Richard Flynn, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, said: “All the power was cut off and seemed to be so for about a five mile (8km) radius.”

The largest earthquake recorded in Britain had a magnitude of 6.1 and struck offshore in the North Sea on June 7, 1931, about 75 miles northeast of Great Yarmouth.

The country experiences a magnitude 5 earthquake on average every ten years. A magnitude 4 earthquake occurs on average every two to three years.

Richard Lloyd Parry, a Times journalist familiar with earthquakes having lived in Japan for more than 10 years, felt it in Sandsend in North Yorkshire.

He said the quake lasted between five and ten seconds.

”It felt like a side-to-side shake and a mirror above the fireplace rattled and the windows shook,” he said.

Joanna O’Donoghue, 21, a student living in Leicester, said she was “absolutely petrified” when her block of flats began shaking around her.

“The front of my chest of drawers fell out and my candles fell on the floor and broke. I thought it was a ghost.

"All my neighbours came out and people from all over the country have already started sending me messages saying they felt it. I’m still a bit panicky; I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep."

Richard Borthwick from Sutton on Sea said the tremor, which lasted between five and 10 seconds, was much stronger than one he experienced several years ago in Los Angeles.

At first he thought the vibrations might be caused by a low-flying jet or a crashed plane.

“I couldn’t understand it at first”, he said. “After it had finished shaking things were still rattling from the movement”.

Anthony Samuelson, 78, from Totteridge: “It was very strong here. I live in a house on top of a ridge and the whole house shook."

Sylvia Tilley Harris, from Leicestershire, who has experienced earthquakes in Los Angeles and Italy before, said: “It was like a truck was coming, a big juggernaut coming down the road. I live in a new house and it shook like a piece of paper.”

Between 200 and 300 quakes occur in Britain each year, but only about 10 per cent are strong enough to be felt.

Earthquake facts

— British earthquakes have killed 11 people since 1580. Six were killed by falling stones, two fell from upper floors, two died of shock and one committed suicide

— The largest earthquake recorded in Britain had a magnitude of 6.1 and struck offshore in the North Sea on June 7, 1931, about 75 miles northeast of Great Yarmouth

— Britain’s largest onshore tremor struck in Lleyn, North Wales, on July 19, 1984, with a magnitude of 5.4. It was felt over an area of about 240,000 sq km

— The last big British earthquake was in 1990, when a 5.1 tremor hit Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire

— The most damaging quake to date was the magnitude 4.6 Colchester earthquake of 1884. It shattered walls and brought down a church spire

— Homes in Folkestone, Kent, were damaged on April 28 this year when a magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck a few miles away in the English Channel. One woman was taken to hospital with a neck injury

— A magnitude 5 earthquake occurs on average every ten years. A magnitude 4 earthquake occurs on average every two to three years

— There are 200 minor tremors in Britain every year, but 90 per cent go undetected by the public

— Faults in the Earth’s crust were not identified as the source of quakes until 1855

— Moonquakes (“earthquakes” on the moon) do occur, but they happen less frequently and have smaller magnitudes than earthquakes on the Earth

Source: Times archive, United States Geological Survey