Daniel Barratt told he was woken by the earthquake at 1am, while Anne Summerfield from Old Wolverton said: "I didn't know what it was. I live quite near the railway line and assumed it was a goods train going past!"

Sue Wildman, from Northfield Close, Kettering, said: "We were woken at 1am when our bed started shaking and we heard a really loud rumbling noise.

"Pots in the kitchen were shaking and it sounded like a train was going over the top of our bungalow.

"My husband guessed it was an earthquake but it really shook me up!

"When I got up and looked out the window it was very quiet and no-one else had their lights on.

"It was quite eerie, but the strange thing was lots of blackbirds then started singing and flying around at 1am."

David and Joy Swift from Hempton in Norfolk were also in touch to say they heard the quake.

Peter Hall, from Federation Avenue, Desborough, said: "At about 1am my wife and I were woken with the bed shaking and the wardrobes rattling.

"I had been working on the central heating yesterday the boiler located beneath our bedroom within the garage I thought may have been the cause but it would have been some airlock to have created the disturbance we experienced, we have had a tremor before when the Birmingham quake struck but this was worse."

Mary Bigley,from School Lane in Higham Ferrers was also in touch.

Lisa Benton said: "We were awoken by the earthquake. First thoughts were 'What's that noise?', then we realised it must be a quake. The whole house seem to shake.

"Some time about an hour later I was woken again by another noise but much quieter and very brief. Was this an aftershock?"

Janette Clare from Whittlesey, Peterborough, said: "I was wakened by the earthquake rattling my sliding wardrobe doors really loudly. It was frightening."

Neil Gossage, from Rothwell, said: "It shook the house things moved.

"It started like there was the police helicopter outside hovering then rattling / shacking the house was shaking and things moved in the house and I opened the window and and looked outside and my neighbours all were looking out windows or out in the street.

"I called the police and they had it in Daventry and Northampton, I also called my parents in Keysoe, Bedfordshire and they also felt it."

Jamie Allen, Windermere Road, Kettering, said: "It sounded and felt like a juggernaut rushing past thehouse, except that one would not fit up the road.

"It sent the dog rushing and barking, waking me up."

Shirley Fursdon, from Gretton, said: "A loud shaking noise was felt by some residents in the village lasting for approximately 12 seconds.

"No visible damage was reported but some were disturbed from thier sleep startled by the noise and vibration."

Jean Drinkwater, of Shelley Road in Wellingborough, said: "My house was shaken by an earth tremor at 1am today.

"It was violent enough to wake me from my sleep - I wondered if anyone else felt it too my daughter was downstairs and saw the kitchen stove shake - she said that was cool."

Ray Rodden, of Waltham Close in Corby, said: "At 00.57 this morning my house shook badly for about 10 seconds.

"No damage was done as far as I can tell but I noticed neighbors were looking out their windows obviously wondering what was going on as well."

Steve Richards, of Victoria Street, Desborough, said: "The floor under my feet began to shake, the dogs started barking, the tremble moved up to the furniture which began to shake violently.

"I grabbed hold of the television that seemed to be jumping up and down, everything I looked at was moving. Within seconds everything had returned to normal. A scary few moments!"

Leader of Kettering Council, Cllr Jim Hakewill, was working at home in Braybrooke when he says everything started to shake.

He said: "I was working on my comments for this week's Full Council Meeting when I noticed the screen of my PC shuddering and the table it is on started to shake.

"After this mild event a much stronger quake shook the whole house with ornaments rattling on shelves. It probably continued for two or three seconds which seemed like a lifetime. After the much more violent quake it got less noticeable and stopped.

"My wife who was fast asleep was woken and the whole event was quite frightening and whilst it was happening it was impossible to tell if it was going to get stronger or calm down. Just proves that whatever we humans do, nature can always spring a surprise!"

Kamal Paul, of Montagu Street, Kettering, said: "I was in bed at 1am this morning and I felt the house moving quite vigorously.

"I didn't know what was going on. This is the second or third time this has happened over a few years.

"This has proved we have to look after the world we live in. It was quite frightening really. I thought the way it was shaking there must have been some injuries here. People in Ise Lodge rushed out into the streets."

Dave Clemo, from Brambleside, in Kettering, said: "I was woken by the windows and mirrors shaking. There was no damage but the wife was shaken. She held on to me and asked me to make the earth stop moving.

"Also our pet parrot appears to have fallen off his perch and is bleeding slightly from his beak."

Jordan Mills, 17, of the High Street, in Rothwell, said: "I woke up and I thought it was a dream or a nightmare.

"I sat still for a bit; I didn't know what was going on.

"My bed was moving across the room.

"After the initial tremor, my bed kept vibrating for 10 or 15 seconds.

"I thought my room was going to fall in, or that I was going to fall through to the kitchen."

Fay Freeman, of St Luke's Close, in Kettering, who has two children, aged five and eight, said: "My children were woken up by their beds shaking.

"They came straight into us - they didn't know what was going on so there was some panic.

"They were fine after a while - I told them it must have been an earthquake.

"They were talking about it this morning, I imagine it will be a hot topic at school.

"I just heard a banging noise but nothing was out of place in the house this morning so I don't know what it was."

John McSherry, 17, from Elizabeth Street, Corby, said: "I slept right through it – the first I knew was when my mum woke me this morning to tell me about it. Apparently the whole block of flats was moving."

Newsagent Mahesh Karsandas of Merestone Road, Corby said: "It woke me up straight away and then I heard my son get up and my wife woke.

"I looked out of the window and all the neighbours were up doing the same so they must have felt it too.

"My wife was in India when the big earthquake hit there so she knew what it was straight away.

"She even said that she thought this one was about 5.3 in magnitude – and she was right!

Inspector Phil Kings of Northamptonshire Police said: "From approximately 12.58am until about 1.30am Northamptonshire police received 250 calls from members of the public from all parts of the county, particularly Northampton in relation to a minor earth tremor.

"As best we can determine, there was no report of injury or damage to any property."

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue said: "We have had several reports from people who felt the tremors. The guys at our Corby station thought the roof was going to come off."

A second spokesman for the fire and rescue service said: "We didn't have any call-outs to incidents during or directly following the earthquake, but we did have two dozen calls from concerned members of the public.

"They phoned us because they said they couldn't get through to the police.

"We had a call just after 7am to chimney in a dangerous condition at Scott Street in Kettering."

Kevin Rowlatt said: "I live in Harringworth near Corby, I was awoken to a loud what a would describe as a heavy goods train thundering past at about 1am with the whole house shaken, it was soon clear that it was no train it was really scary and thought something was going to give way, something i do not want to feel or hear again."

Keith Brown, 62, of Pioneer Avenue, Desborough was woken up by the earthquake.

He said: "Suddenly I woke up and it was almost as if a really heavy lorry was going by.

"There was all this noise and the whole house shook.

"At the time it seemed like it was going on for minutes but I imagine it was probably only a few seconds.

"I was quite surprised it was happening but when it finished I went straight back to sleep."

Megan Hayes, from Wellingborough, said: "I felt the earthquake last night in Wellingborough.

"I was jut dozing off to sleep when all of a sudden my room started shaking, it was like being in a simulator for an earthquake.

"It didn't fell real. I only felt the earthquake for a few minutes, my younger brothers got up and shouted what was happening. I can not believe that we have experienced an earthquake! "

To let us know your earthquake experiences click here., or phone our reporters on 01536 506148.


To read about the impact of the earthquake click here.