Today was an eventful day. It was the first time I’d ever experienced an earthquake.

We don’t get too many of them here in the UK, and quite frankly I’m very glad. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared. The quake itself only lasted about 3 or 4 seconds, but it measured 4.3 on the richter scale.

I tried walking towards my wife, who had a look of absolute terror on her face, but the vibrations and the noise (it sounded like a train thundering through the house) totally disoriented me, and I ended up grabbing the door frame to keep standing up.

Afterwards everyone went out in the street in an absolute daze. The power had gone out and we had no idea what had just happened.

Initially I wondered if it had been a major terrorist attack on the Channel Tunnel (about a mile to the north of us) but when word started getting out that it had been felt quite a few miles away we just had to assume that it was a tremor of some kind.

Initial radio reports were sketchy, but slowly it became apparent what had happened. I was suprised how much incorrect information was given out. The magnitude of the quake went from 4.7 to 5.3 and then down to 4.3 as the epicentre took a little stroll around the area before settling somewhere out to sea in the Dover Straight (about 6 miles SE of us).

It was so surreal to drive into town later listening ot the reports of the Kent Earthquake… utterly insane in fact. That kind of thing happens in California, for sure, but not here in sleepy South East England.

Luckily most people were still in bed when it happened so only one or two people seem to have been hurt.

But, man, what an experience…

The BBC have some pictures…