Biggest earthquake to hit Britain in 25 years to cost tens of millions

HOUSEHOLDERS across Britain were last night counting the cost of the biggest earthquake to hit Britain in nearly 25 years.

Thousands of people, some as far apart as Dumfries in Scotland and Swansea in south Wales, were abruptly shaken awake when the tremor struck just before 1am.

Insurers estimated the damage caused by the quake, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, would amount to tens of millions of pounds.

Emergency services were flooded with calls and hundreds of homeowners reported damage — but there was only one confirmed injury.

Student David Bates, 19, suffered a suspected broken pelvis when a chunk of masonry from a chimney stack crashed into his bedroom.

The keen amateur footballer was watching TV in bed at his home in Barnsley Road, Wombwell, South Yorkshire, when the earthquake struck.

He was taken by ambulance to Barnsley Hospital, where he was said to be most worried about missing important Barnsley FC matches.

His father, Paul Bates, said: “Of all the things that can happen — an earthquake.”

The British Geological Survey said the quake hit at 12.56am and its epicentre was just north of Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

BGS seismologist Brian Baptie said: “This is a significant earthquake for the UK and will have been widely felt across England and Wales.”

Market Rasen escaped the worst of the damage — a stone cross fell from a church in the town, but most buildings escaped unscathed.

Mother of two Eleanor Ramsey, 31, said: “It felt like a bomb had gone off. I woke up screaming and my son was screaming, so we got the children in bed with us.”

Yesterday’s tremor was the largest since 1984, when an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook the Lleyn Peninsula of North Wales and was widely felt across Britain and Wales.