QUAKE! The earth moves in Suffolk

SUFFOLK felt the force of what experts have described as a "significant" earthquake which shook the UK in the early hours of this morning.The tremor hit at around 1am and was measured at 5.2 on the Richter Scale.

SUFFOLK felt the force of what experts have described as a "significant" earthquake which shook the UK in the early hours of this morning.

The tremor hit at around 1am and was measured at 5.2 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, but hundreds of people in Suffolk reported that they were woken from their sleep by the tremor.

Helen Peet, of Little Bealings, told the Star: “Both my son and myself were woke from a deep sleep by the earthquake, it felt as if my bed was on a ship at sea.

“I thought earthquake but my brain thought that illogical, decided I was dreaming and sent me straight back to sleep.

“I told my son my 'dream' in the morning and he said, 'That's really weird, same happened to me and I thought it a dream'. Then we turned the news on and were so excited we'd felt an earthquake.”

The epicentre of the quake was near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, but the effects were felt throughout the country.

There were several reports of damage to property and one man in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, suffered a broken pelvis after a chimney collapsed and fell through the roof of his home and into his bedroom.

Emergency services across England received a high level of calls following the incident, many from people who were frightened when they were woken up to find their home shaking.

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: "We had an emergency call to Wombwell, Barnsley. A chimney had come through the bedroom roof.'

A Lincolnshire Police spokeswoman said the force took dozens of calls from concerned residents but had no reports of anyone being injured.

"It made us very, very busy for about an hour,' she said.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) initially gave the magnitude for the 12.56am earthquake as 5.3 on the Richter scale but later said it was closer to 5.2.

It said the centre was five miles east of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, and about 15 miles south west of Grimsby.

Seismologist Brian Baptie of the BGS said: "This is a significant earthquake for the UK and will have been widely felt across England and Wales.'

Check this website for updates on the quake and more reports of what people experienced in Suffolk.

DID THE EARTH MOVE FOR YOU? If you felt the tremor in Suffolk, contact The Evening Star news desk on 01473 324788 or email starnews@eveningstar.co.uk