Kent rocked by earth tremor

An earth tremor measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale has rocked parts of Kent.

Buildings have been damaged in the tremor with large cracks appearing in some properties and reports of chimneys being dislodged.

Some residents have been evacuated from their homes and at least one person was injured in the quake.

South East Coast Ambulance Service said one woman in her 30s suffering from a minor head injury and neck pain was taken to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

A spokeswoman said it sent five ambulances and three officers to the Folkestone area after it received reports at approximately 8.20am.

A spokesman for the British Geological Survey said the tremor measured an estimated 4.3 on the Richter scale, a level where structural damage would occur.

He said it was the largest in Britain since that in Dudley in 2002.

It was too early to determine the full extent of the fault area, the spokesman added, but reports were coming in from places which included Folkestone, Deal and Dover.

He said the length of time people would have felt it would depend on how near to the epicentre they were as the waves spread out.

The US Geological Survey, which monitors seismic technology around the world, said the earthquake time as 8.18am with the tremor located 15 miles south of Canterbury at a "depth" of 6.2 miles.

Fire service officials said they were being inundated with calls from residents in the Folkestone area.

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

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

There was no damage to her home, but she said the tremor shook the house like a "fun fair ride".

Hendrick van Eck, 27, who lives in Canterbury, said the tremor lasted a matter of seconds.

He said: "I was lying in bed and it felt as if someone had just got up from bed next to me.

"I then heard the sound of cracking, and it was getting heavier and heavier. It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down.

"I thought 'that must have been earthquake'. It didn't last very long, just a matter of seconds."

Householders have reported feeling the the tremor as far afield including in East Sussex, Essex and Suffolk.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.