Homes crumble as earthquake rocks Kent

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Homes were evacuated, power was cut and one woman needed hospital treatment after parts of Kent were hit by an earthquake today.

The tremor - measuring about 4.3 on the Richter scale - struck just after 8.15am today, in an area with a history of some of the worst British quakes.

The emergency services were inundated with calls as the ground shook and buildings were damaged, with cracks and toppling chimneys.

• Watch video from the earthquake scene here

An elderly women is helped from her home after the quake

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) reassured householders that damage will be covered.

The ABI's Nick Starling said: "These sudden, unexpected, and unwanted events are exactly what insurance is designed to cover."

A women appears confussed as she walks the streets after the quake struck

Kent Fire and Rescue Service took more than a 100 emergency calls, ranging from issues concerning structural damage to gas smells.

A spokesman said: "We have had calls from people saying their chimneys have fallen down, large cracks in people's houses."

The fire brigade investigated reports of someone trapped under a collapsed building but everyone was accounted for.

Electricity and gas supplies to houses in some parts of Kent were cut off. Scottish and Southern Energy, which supplies gas to the area, was investigating 300 "possible gas escapes" in the system.

EDF Energy, which supplies electricity to people in the Dover and Folkestone area, said several thousand customers lost power, but it was later restored.

Police said there were no reports of serious injuries. But South East Coast Ambulance Service said one woman in her 30s suffering from a minor head injury and neck pain was taken to hospital.

It sent five ambulances and three officers to the Folkestone area. The quake is the largest in Britain since an earthquake in Dudley in 2002.

Rescue workers attempt to stabilise cracked buildings

British Geological Survey seismologist Roger Musson said the tremor was around 4.3 on the Richter scale, with an epicentre 7.5 miles off the Dover coast.

That meant it could be weakly perceptible as far as London. "This is by no means a complete surprise," he said. "There have been earthquakes in this location before.

"Two of them have been some of the biggest earthquakes ever to affect Britain."

The first was in 1382 and in 1580 a quake with a magnitude of about six killed two people in London.

There were also smaller tremors in 1776 and 1950 in the area, which were in the "low fours" and on a similar scale to the one today.

"It was a matter of time before we had another earthquake here," he said.

Richard Ashworth, Conservative MEP for the South East of England, who lives in Folkestone, said: "At first I thought a lorry had crashed into the back of our house, but having lived in New Zealand I soon realised what it was.

"The entire house shook. It was quite frightening and I am astonished there is no damage to our house."

Roads were cordoned off by police amid fears that dislodged chimney pots and masonry could fall.

Residents gathered outside to survey the destruction and because of fears of possible aftershocks.

Paul Hatton, 38, said that he and his brother Neil initially thought the tremor was caused by an explosion.

He said: "I was upstairs and my brother was downstairs and I heard a bang and thought that a lorry had crashed into something or that there had been a gas explosion. I went outside and could smell a bit of gas and there were lots of people outside."

Another local, Bill Byrne, 47, said: "We've got lots of cracks throughout the house but thankfully no one has been injured round here.

Everyone's been outside just talking about what had happened. It has been quite good to see the community rally round like this."

The Salvation Army comforted those affected by the tremor with shelter and refreshments.

Up to 100 people, including families and the elderly, arrived at a church in Canterbury Road, Folkestone.

It was one of the places affected by power cuts - but Salvation Army minister Captain Peter West came to the rescue with an emergency vehicle equipped with its own gas and electric generator, to provide food and drinks.

He said: "There was a lot of activity in the Canterbury Road area, which happens to be where the Salvation Army church is.

"A lot of people had been directed here by the emergency services. Personnel were on the scene providing refreshments and emotional support. "A lot of people were upset and confused, but there was no serious trauma."

Sharon Hayles, who lives in the village of Stanford near the Eurotunnel at Folkestone, said her house slid from side to side for about 10 to 15 seconds but escaped damage.

A family shelters outside their house in the quake region

Mrs Hayles, who was sitting in her living room with her husband Martin, said: "We were looking at each other in amazement - you don't expect to feel a tremor that size here.

"It literally felt like the whole house was being slid across like a funfair ride. We did expect to see some kind of damage, because we have a quite a large house and it was shifting under our feet. It was horrible."

Hendrick van Eck, 27, who lives in Canterbury, said: "It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down."

A spokesman for Eurotunnel said everything was "running normally" with the Channel Tunnel, which runs close to Folkestone.

At a press conference Kent Fire and Rescue Service deputy chief fire officer Bill Feeley said the damage appeared to be restricted to four or five streets in Folkestone and that they had received more than 200 calls.

Damage reported included fallen chimney stacks, cracks to walls and fallen masonry and 130 fire fighters were on the scene dealing with the aftermath, he added.

Mr Feeley said he was not aware of any detrimental impact on the transport infrastructure and added: "The impact is quite local and we will focus all our specialist resources to those areas."

Earthquake recorded: the image shows the tremor measured 4.7 on the Richter scale

 

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