'Crunching and cracking' heard as magnitude-3.3 earthquake rattles England

8 September 2020, 10:34 | Updated: 8 September 2020, 11:18

By Rachael Kennedy

@rkennedy228

A magnitude-3.3 earthquake has rattled parts of southern England, according to the British Geological Survey.

The quake's epicentre was recorded in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, at 9.45am on Tuesday at a depth of 10km.

There were numerous reports of houses shaking by people located in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire after the incident.

Leighton Buzzard resident Martin Kennedy, 53, said he had been working in a quiet office room at home when there was a sudden "really deep rumble sound" around him.

He told LBC: "Everything started shaking, the whole house started shaking and there were crunching and cracking sounds.

"As soon as it finished, I looked down the street and everyone was coming out of their houses.

"At the time you didn't know what was going on and then it became more scary afterwards. As it was going on you didn't really have time to think about it.

"Everyone outside was in a state of shock."

Another Leighton Buzzard resident, Pauline Prince, described hearing "a big bang" and initially thought something else had happened.

"It was like an explosion," she told LBC. "It frightened me. It really did because I couldn't see what it was.

"The whole bungalow shook for quite a few seconds and all the windows shook."

Meanwhile, Bedfordshire Police said it was experiencing a "large number" of calls following the quake.

It added that there have been no initial reports of injuries or major structural damage.