AN explosion in the North Sea off Felixstowe was a war-time bomb being blown up - and not an earthquake as first feared.

Richard Cornwell

AN explosion in the North Sea off Felixstowe was a war-time bomb being exploded - and not an earthquake as first feared.

Experts who monitor the east coast for seismic movement which could cause a flooding catastrophe said there was a “confirmed explosion” which hit 2.5 on the Richter scale.

But today the British Geological Survey (BGS) said it was not an earthquake but a very big bomb discovered as part of the work on the Gunfleet Sands windfarm under construction and which can be seen from Felixstowe's seafront.

Geoffrey Wildman, of the Lincolnshire Community Flood Watch, sounded the alarm after tremors were felt at 6.39pm on Sunday.

“We watch earthquakes in the North Sea because they can cause a flood risk to the Lincolnshire coast,” he said.

“The quake measured 2.5 on the Richter scale. There was a confirmed explosion.”

However, a spokesman at the BGS in Edinburgh, which investigates all British earthquakes, said: “It was actually a very big bomb though it would probably have been felt along the coast and some people may have thought it was an earthquake.

“It was a controlled explosion. We have been told by the company carrying out the windfarm work that there may be others as the project progresses.”

An explosion measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale would have the power of a world war two blockbuster bomb.

There are about 1,000 such earthquakes per day worldwide.