'Average' quake hits East Midlands

An "average" earthquake has struck the East Midlands but no damage or injuries have been reported.

Police forces and fire crews across the area said they had not been called out to any incidents following the tremor.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) confirmed a 2.9 magnitude earthquake struck the East Midlands at 5.20am on Friday.

Julian Bukits, of the BGS, said it was "average" for the UK and the epicentre had been located near Loughborough, Leicestershire.

Mike Flood, 45, who lives in Loughborough with his family, felt the earthquake. He said: "I was awake, actually - I get up quite early. It was about 5.10am. It was almost like a plane going over or an explosion in the distance.

"The house creaked - there was no house moving or pictures falling off the wall, but the house just creaked. It was strange - you know something's happened and you know it's not a normal thing."

He said his teenage children were woken up by the quake. "They were asking what it was, and I said 'Oh, it could have been a plane or it might have been an earth tremor', just to allay their fears. Our daughter is in the bedroom at the top of the house so she probably felt it a bit more. It woke our son up. I don't think he knew what had happened or didn't hear it, but it woke him up afterwards."

One caller told BBC Radio Leicester: "It sounded like an underground train coming and everything wobbled, but nothing fell off shelves."

Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Police forces all said they had received no reports of any tremors and had not been called out to any incidents. A spokeswoman for Leicestershire Police said: "We've not received any calls about any tremors or any damage overnight."

Fire and rescue services in the county also said it had not received any calls reporting an earthquake.