'Everything shook... I was terrified'

Homes across the country were shaken by a tremor just before 1am, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale. Londoners, about 150 miles from the earthquake's epicentre in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, did not escape.

The earthquake shook Britain from coast to coast, displacing chimney pots and dislodging roof tiles from Newcastle to Brighton. Emergency services were inundated with calls and several people fled their homes, arriving at police stations in their pyjamas demanding shelter for the night.

John Kettley, the BBC weatherman, told Radio Five Live today: "I was terrified, everything was shaking. But I can promise you it has nothing to do with global warming."

David Rendell, the former Liberal Democrat MP for Newbury, was awake and working at his desk at his home in Berkshire when the earthquake struck. "I was just sitting in a chair doing some work and suddenly the whole place seemed to be moving a bit and I thought I must just be getting giddy but it turned out that it really was an earthquake."

Today's quake is the largest since 1984 when an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook the Lleyn Peninsula of north Wales and was widely felt across England and Wales.

Kiran Sekhon, 29, from Hammersmith, said: "I woke up absolutely terrified. I was in quite a deep sleep and all of a sudden woke to find my bed shaking. It went on for a few seconds and then stopped."

For most people who felt it, the overwhelming sensation was of windows rattling, beds shaking and wardrobes wobbling.

But at least one person was taken to hospital as a result of the earthquake while in Birmingham, a 31-year-old pregnant woman suffered a panic attack.

The father of a 19-year-old man whose pelvis was broken when masonry crashed into his bedroom during the quake said today: "It could have been worse."

Student David Bates was watching TV in the attic of his home in Barnsley Road, Wombwell, South Yorkshire, when the tremor struck.

His father Paul said he was awoken by a deep rumble which was then followed by shouts from his son upstairs.

Mr Bates said his son was hit by a piece of masonry about two feet by two feet which had fallen from the chimney stack.

This morning the rear of his terrace house showed the extent of the damage with large chunks of stone littering the tiny backyard and a gaping hole in the roof.

Another heavy piece of masonry was perched by the chimney stack, apparently held on to the roof by a thin aerial cable.

Mr Bates said: "David was watching TV and I was in bed.

"I'd just heard the big rumble that everyone else heard but then I heard David shouting "Dad" and I ran upstairs.

"This massive piece of stone had landed on his hip and he was just shouting that he thought it was broken and I called an ambulance. He was on his way to hospital by 1.20am."

Mr Bates added: "You just don't expect it. Of all the things that can happen - an earthquake. I could not believe it but when I think about it, it could have been worse."

Fear was the main motivation for the thousands of calls to emergency services up and down the country, received in the aftermath of the earthquake. Many homeowners, still wearing their pyjamas, rushed into the street to check for structural damage to houses.

Ben Sweeting told how residents in his street in Scunthorpe left their homes to survey any damage and discuss what had just happened.

"My whole house shook like it was going to fall over and it felt as if the whole roof was coming off," said Mr Sweeting.

It was claimed that police across the Midlands received as many as 5,000 calls in an hour and in Dudley 12 people marched into the police station in their pyjamas.

Lincolnshire police reported dozens of calls from anxious residents close to the epicentre. "It made us very, very busy for about an hour," said a force spokeswoman. "No-one's been injured as far as we are aware."

Bev Finnegan, who lives in Market Rasen, said: "I was terrified to be honest. The noise was really, really terrifying... it was so deep and rumbling. It felt like the roof was going to fall in. There were people coming out in their dressing gowns wondering what it was."

Natasha Cavey, in Tipton in the west Midlands, said: "All my cupboard doors flew open and the whole house shook, It was unreal. I can't believe it."

Jamil Ali, from Sheffield, said: "I woke up and the first thing I thought was that there were a load of burglars in the house. The kids were screaming and so was my wife."

Adam Wilson, from Cotgrave in Nottingham, was playing online poker in bed when he felt the tremor. "I felt the window start to vibrate for a few seconds and then it carried on and I was thinking 'come on, stop now'.

"My blinds were making a racket. It's the third earthquake I have felt and by far the strongest."