will there be an after shock ?
thank god no-one got killed
hope you are all ok, im from clacton on sea essex my family live in Deal when i put the tv on i neally fell out of bed with shock i`ve never jumped out of bed so quick so i could phone my family and friends to make sure all was ok .

Gary Otley, clacton on sea, essex

I woke up about 5 minutes before it happened. The noise was so awesome I thought my own house was falling down. I looked out the window to see neighbours running from their houses. Of most concern to everyone was the welfare of each other which was really nice. Some people sadly have major damage to their property. The emergency services were excellent and appeared very quickly after it happened. Although events like this are scary, it seems to always bring the best out in people;s community spirit. It also makes you feel humble when you realise how other less affluent countries suffer when they have massive earthquakes and lose everything. Ps..Folkestone fire brigade are Amazing!

Tina Williamson, Folkestone, UK

Only in a country which doesn't get earthquakes would a 4.3 quake make national headlines! According to Wikipedia, a 4.3 is considered to be "light, with noticeable shaking and rattling, but unlikely to cause significant damage. If Britain was seismically active enough to require earthquake-level building codes, there would probably have been no damage to speak of with this quake. Clive - I suspect the Chunnel is fine: San Francisco has much bigger quakes than this and the BART (underground system) that goes under San Francisco Bay has survived. Having said that, it probably meets higher construction requirements to withstand earthquakes!

Rebecca, Seattle, USA

im totally for man kind being more aware of the damage we do to the environment, but it says these quakes have been going on for hundreds of years.... surely its nothing to do with us

Joel Litchfield, warwick uni,

Drowsing in bed with Radio 4 yesterday morning, at around 0818 I had thg sensation that somebody had broken in and was walking with very heavy footsteps through the flat. It was not until my sister rang at 0900 to check my safety that I had any idea as to what had happened.

James Black, Rye, UK

I'm french and I live in Wimereux near Calais. I fealt the earthquake in my bed. During ten seconds, my bed was moving very quickly. It was like small vibration.
I didn't see any news in french newspaper about french people feeling the UK earthquake. Furthermore, my flat is located in front of the sea, i might be the rare who could feel something. A very impressive experience !
Yesterday night I could feel the same thing at 00.30 am
Was there another earthquake?

xavier, wimereux, france

I'm surprised that neither a government minister or some environmentalist hasn't commented that this is 'obviously' due to global warming!

Ian, Bristol,

i was woken up by the shaking which was followed by a boom. i was startling to say the least! we had no idea what was happening because the electricity was off for hours, mobile networks were too overloaded to be able to 'phone anyone for information. initially we thought something had happened at the channel tunnel

steph grant, folkestone, kent

Perhaps, after all, David Ike was right? ;-(

Clarissa, Poznan, Poland

Domestic properties in the UK are not designed to resist earthquakes. However, there are ways to ensure domestic buildings to possess robustness against lateral forces generated by earthqakes or strong gales. In the case of properties in Folkestone damaged by this morning's earthquake they should be inspected by Chartered Structural Engineers before repairs are carred out by builders. It might be worthwhile to consider an extension or alteration to be carried out at the same time as the repair/demolition work. I have carried out earthquake resistant designs of buildings and structural inspections of buildings suffered from cracking, subsidence, incorrect construction, etc. During the course of my work I have seen inappropriate alterations of buildings such as removal of almost all cross walls, indequate bearing or fixing of beam ends, incorrect alterations of roof structures, cutting out of parts of trussed rafters, etc. which may increase the risk of damage due to lateral loads.

W Lai, Milton Keynes, Bucks

i work at morrisons in Folkestone where the centre of the earthquake happend. At the moment it struck the whole floor seemed to raise then drop causing all shelving to jump. This made stock crash to the floor all around me then all the lights went out and this is when i knew i had to evacuate customers and staff. The shaking lasted about 3 seconds and was more like an aftershock from a bomb explosion than an earthquake.This is my first experiance in an earthquake and was quite shocking for it to happen in Folkestone.

Sven Jones, Folkestone, England / Kent

Surely there was a 'quake in Colchester during the first world war,news of which was suppressed at the time.
I seem to remember reading about it ,several years ago,and if I recall correctly, a few people were killed, and many properties damaged!
So what's new?

R.S.Wilcox, Pai, Thailand

We live in a village near Dover, and I had a bath running just about to get in. I heard a rumble and looked towards the lounge and saw my vase of flowers swaying from side to side. My first thought was a large lorry had gone by, then I thought it might be to do with the army as we have MOD land all around us. I saw my neighbour and went outside to hear that they had spoken to the police and they thought it was an explosion in Dover. I felt physically sick, and to find out just afterwards that it was an earthquake made me feel no better. I got off lightly as I have spoken to family closeby that were flung from their beds. Its something I never thought would happen here.

A Hoskins, Dover, UK

EARTHQUAKES IN ENGLAND?

Shocking...I mean shaking! What is this world coming to? Thank heavens no one was killed!

I guess that things have been all shook up in the UK recently.

We have a lot of Earthquakes in the USA along the San Andreas Fault in California.

Your earthquake probably occurred along the Tony Blair Fault!

Garth Strong, Glendale Heights, USA

How can this happen? As far as I know, there is no fault line in the Earth's crust anywhere near the UK??

Ian, Lancaster, UK

As a Brit who has lived in Los Angeles for 30 years I can understand the fear and shock when one experiences a large quake for the first time. As rare an occasion as this is for England, it is understood, that although completely unpredictable, quakes will continue to occur in an area that has experienced them before. I trust that the local government will consider consulting with other cities in this world that have experienced quakes in their history ,to receive advice on adopting new construction protocol for new buildings and how to re-inforce existing structures in order to withstand these tremors. As a point of note, I survived the "Northridge" quake which came in at 6.8 on the Richter scale - trust me, that "moves you baby".

Ian, Pine Mountain Club, California

i live in lympne in kent only a little way from folkstone and i felt it. i was watchin tv in my room and then it just went off and the electric was off the i herd a rumble and then my bed shook violently and the walls were rocking it was horible any chance we will have another one soon?

Natalie miller, Lympne, kent, England

i live in Maidstone and i felt it, i thought an aeroplane was going to land on our house

i looked out my lounge window and saw the tree trunks shaking and all i could feel was my body vibrating.

shaun gibson, maidstone, england

There must have been panic with women spilling their Latte's and cappuccino all over the place.

Sid, Upper Hutt, New Zealand

I lived in Palm Springs California for a long time. We used to have earthquakes every day at about 5.0 Richter and up. We never thought anything of it. My advice is DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. Head for an internal doorway or very heavy table and stay put.
If you go outside you could be cut in half by falling glass and other structural debris.
Relax...It's a tiny one.

Tony Wade, Brighton, UK

Can't imagine the earth moving for anybody in Kent...

Martin, Cambridge,

Re-percussion for digging and disrupting the earth have always been on the cards. Is it not possible that disrupting the sea with the euro tunnel has not caused a weakness.

If something in the ocean gives, and the sea decides to come on land, we can say goodbye to a large percentage of kent.

Predictions have been made that our coastline will be underwater. I pray this is not a sign.

Unfortunately mankind only learns when it is too late. The forces of nature are more powerfull than man. When nature is disrupted it will always find a way to re-address the balance.

SHININA FERNANDEZ, MAIDSTONE, ENGLAND

Is there much chance that an earthquake might cause the Chnnel Tunnel to crack open / leak / flood? How powerfull would it have to be?

Clive Evrall, Warwickshire, England

We live in Folkestone, near a primary school which has recently had gas pipes laid and we originally thought it was an underground explosion but then when it went on and on which seemed like a lifetime we thought a lorry had crashed into our house, its such an awful experience you cant explain it being in a building that physically shakes, you think its gonna come down on top of you...........
As you have no electricity you have no idea what is going on, its as if you have been cut off..

neil king, Folkestone, England

Kent Earthquake: Personal experiences

Please let me briefly share my experiences of this morning events

I was awoken by a series tremors just after eight this morning. At first I thought it was an earthquake, until I realised it was just the regular train service from Waterloo to Paris, France. My house backs on to the Eurotunnel terminal!!

I've been unable to, watch television, cook, or even heat my home. It has been like this for the last two weeks since Powergen disconnected me, for failing to pay the bill!!

I've heard reports that martial law has now been declared, and even that some people have been evacuate from their homes by the sally-army, which as I write now patrols the streets to deter looters!!

Ben, Dover,

Although earthquakes are infrequent in Britain, 4.3 on the Richter scale is relatively small, the cause for such alarm is unnecessary.

Dave, Glasgow, UK