The quake struck at about 12.56am, waking people up as buildings shook for about 10 seconds.

It was the biggest earthquake to hit Britain in 24 years.

There are no initial reports of any damage or injuries to anyone locally, but a chimney stack was made safe by firefighters in Kilnwell Road in Market Rasen, which forced the closure of Kilnwell Road and Dear Street for a short time.

Firefighters attended two other incidents in the town of chimney stacks believed to be loose but none that had fallen. Firefighters also attended a dangerous chimney stack in Cow Lane, Tealby and made it safe.

Some masonry did fall off St Thomas Church in Market Rasen, which is having its tower renovated at the moment.

The Rev Michael Cartwright said they were lucky nothing actually fell through the roof.

"The damage is being repaired straight away as the damage is over the organ and we can't afford to have rainwater getting in."

At East Barkwith Post Office a chimney has fallen off and there was structural damage 25 miles away in Gainsborough, where some roads have had to be closed for safety reasons.

The tremor was felt as far away as London, Newcastle, Southampton and Shrewsbury.

However, even though Ludford was the epicentre, there did not appear to have been any damage caused there.

Judith Saunders said she heard something that sounded like an army low-loader with caterpillar tracks rumbling along the road.

Caroline Feit of Ludford said she was woken up by a 'large bang' and then heard a loud rumble. "I could hear dogs barking all over the place," she said.

Michael Steed of Nettleton, seven miles north of Market Rasen, said he was woken up as the building shook.

"My long case clock stopped and a picture frame fell off a table," he said.

"Curiously all the birds started singing, even though it was 1am, but they stopped after about a quarter of an hour when they realised it was still night."

Kevin and Lesley Danville of Market Rasen, said: "The house shook and the dogs ran around with their tails between their legs!"

The Rev Ian Robinson at Caistor said he thought it was his wife snoring!
"It was reminiscent of the Flixborough disaster or the Conoco explosion," he said.

Ian King, also of Caistor, said he thought it was burglars. "I went outside, looked around but saw nothing and went back to bed."

County Coun Tony Turner from Swallow said: "My daughter thought I had fallen out of bed but she went back to bed after discovering all was well."

De Aston students Kirsty Silson, Thea Garrett and Tom Fincham said it was the 'most exciting thing that's happened to us'!

Lincolnshire Police said they had received more than 200 calls from local people but had heard of no injuries.

Dr Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey, said: "This is a significant earthquake for the UK and will have been widely felt across England and Wales."

Television crews started descending on the town after it was announced Market Rasen was at the epicentre.

An expert has warned that after-shocks, probably smaller, may be felt for up to 48 hours.

Britain suffers an average of 200 earthquakes a year but the risk is not great and only 11 people have been killed by earthquakes since 1580.

The largest earthquake recorded in Britain had a magnitude of 6.1 and struck off-shore in the North Sea in June 1931.

In October 2001 an earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter Scale hit the county.

At the time it was the biggest tremor to hit the region since 1750.

Following the quake, the British Geological Survey warned another quake of similar scale was likely to hit the area within a few years.

To view the US Geographical Survey data on the tremor click here.

Click here to read the British Geological Survey's report on last night's tremor.

Click here to read about how earthquakes happen.


This website will be updated as news breaks through the day.

Did the earth move for you? Please ring The Mail on 01673 844644 or e mail michael.steed@jpress.co.uk