Did the Earth move for you? Earthquake hits England with thousands woken up by 3.3-magnitude tremor

The tremor struck shortly after 11.23 pm and was felt across Lancashire and the southern Lake District, including the towns of Kendal and Ulverston, within 12 miles of the epicentre.

The British Geological Society (BGS) said it was "felt across the South Lakes and Lancashire, mainly within 20km of the epicentre", including Kendal and Ulverston in neighbouring Cumbria.

Data suggests the quake occurred just off the coast of Silverdale, Lancashire at a depth of 1.86 miles.

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Residents told the BGS it “felt like an underground explosion” and was “so powerful it shook the whole house”.

The Volcano Discovery website, which also collects information on earthquakes, received more than 1,100 reports from people who were in the area at the time.

Most reports detailed “light” or “weak” shaking.

Each year, the BGS detects between 200 and 300 earthquakes in the UK, but only around 20 to 30 are strong enough to be felt.

Most go unnoticed, recorded only by sensitive instruments, and the vast majority cause little or no damage.

The most recent earthquake measuring more than 3.3 magnitude was felt in parts of Perth and Kinross on October 20.

The BGS said the quake struck at 7.25am, with its epicentre in Pubil, in the Glen Lyon region.

It's the latest in a string of seismic activity to hit the UK in recent months.

Over the weekend, two smaller earthquakes struck the UK, with a 1.3 magnitude tremor felt in Herefordshire at around 3:15pm, followed by a 1.0 magnitude quake in Cornwall, which hit around 9:30pm.

These were preceded by a 0.4 magnitude earthquake in Pubil, Perth and Kinross.

Meanwhile on Monday, a further 1.0 magnitude earthquake was detected close to Newport at around 5:20pm.