‘Was that a little earthquake?’ Surrey hit by second tremor in a week

A house shook “like a truck crashed into it” when Surrey was hit by an earthquake for the second time in a week, researchers said.

The quake, with a magnitude of 2.4, happened at 6.54am (BST) in Newdigate on Friday and hit a depth of 3 miles (5km), according to British Geological Survey.

It took place in the same area as a 2.6 magnitude tremor on Wednesday, the organisation said on Twitter.

There were reports of “a loud bang and the whole house shook like a truck had crashed into it” for about two seconds, it said.

Classic car parts owner Roy McNeill and his wife Judy, from nearby Beare Green, told the Press Association they felt the effects at around 7am.

He said: “We were having a coffee and the patio windows had a gentle rattle, then the wall and the bed shuddered for a second or so, then stopped.

“We both looked at each other and said ‘Was that a little earthquake?’ It certainly felt like one.”

A resident in the nearby village of Charlwood, which also felt the effects earlier in the week, added: “(It was) a noise and vibration that felt like someone was upstairs in the bedroom, jumping around.

“It was almost like a door being caught in the wind and slamming.”

On Wednesday tremors were also registered in Rusper and Crawley, West Sussex, at 1.30pm (BST) with reports of a few seconds of “rumbling and shaking”.