UK rocked as 4.2 magnitude earthquake hits near London

May 2015 – LONDON – A “DRAMATIC, violent, jarring and jolting” earthquake has struck the UK near Kent, waking residents in the middle of the night with the shock of their lives. The unexpected tremor was felt across Britain. The British Geological Survey confirmed the quake struck at 2:52am British Standard Time with an epicenter 7km south of Ramsgate near Kent. It measured 4.2 on the Richter scale. Residents woke in shock as windows rattled, furniture shook and some reported that the quake sounded like a ‘door was being kicked in.’

The site of the quake was near another quake that hit the region in 2007 as a 4.3. Kent Police were inundated with calls about the event. A spokesman toldmirror.co.uk they began to take calls just before 3am. “It has now been confirmed parts of East Kent has been affected by an earthquake measuring just 4.3 on the Richter scale,” they said. A resident in the area, Simon Moores, toldexpress.co.uk there was “dramatic, violent, jarring and jolting of the house for about 10 seconds. “The seagulls launched into air with tremendous noise outside, dogs started barking, crockery moving, furniture jarring about a bit.”

“It stopped after 10 seconds, which made me think it was probably an earthquake,” he said. Student Amber Vellacott from Kent told The Express she too was woken by the quake. “It was a bit of a shock. I was laying in bed and suddenly I felt the conservatory shaking, then the door started shaking in the house. It just wasn’t right. “All of our animals are quite shaken. “It seems more shocking because of what’s just happened in Nepal and it was a very odd time in the morning so it’s woken a lot of people up.” she said. Many other surprised residents flocked to social media to check that what they felt was real. –News