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Cumbria rocked by earthquake
Last updated 15:46, Tuesday, 28 April 2009

An earthquake - measuring 3.7 on the Richter Scale - hit part of Cumbria this morning.

Its epicentre was in Ulverston but it was felt as far away as Blackpool.

Job Centre Plus workers in Phoenix House, Barrow, were evacuated after tremors shook the building.

Worker Danny Turner said: "It was weird. My desk started shaking and people were getting a bit worried, wondering what the hell was going on.

"I thought there had been an explosion in the street, and then we were told to evacuate the building."

John Frodsham, 54, of Grasmere Road, Ulverston, felt the rumble at home with his 21-year-old son, Stuart.

Mr Frodsham said: “My son came through and said ‘what are you doing’.

“It lasted about 10 to 15 seconds and shook the house. You could feel it under your feet. It was a horrible feeling.

“The entire street was out and the man across the road who works at Glaxo came flying out of his house in his pyjamas and said ‘what the bloody hell was that? It brought all the neighbours out.

“It seemed to go on forever. I remember the one a few years back but that only lasted a couple of seconds.

“The roof is still there and there were no windows broken.”

Lynne Brennand, from Cartmel, said: “We are all shaking. Me and all my neighbours ran out of our houses.

“There is no damage I can see, but I am still quite shaken up. We all ran out of the houses, we thought they were collapsing. It was horrendous. It sounded like an explosion or a plane crash.”

The largest earthquake ever felt in the UK was measured at 6.1 on the Richter scale in 1931.