An earthquake of 4.2 magnitude has hit Kent, shaking buildings and waking up residents.
The tremor was recorded at a depth of 9.5 miles (15km) about 1.4 miles (2km) west of Ramsgate in Thanet at around 3am.
Earthquakes similar in size to the one that hit Kent happen around every two years in the UK and about 4,500 times a year across the world, it said.
It added: "Today's 4.2 magnitude Ramsgate earthquake is approx 260,000 times smaller than the 7.8 Nepal Quake event."
Kent Police were inundated with calls about the incident.
The force tweeted: "We are aware of reports of tremors being felt by residents in East Kent & are monitoring the situation. No injuries have been reported."
Residents tweeted their reactions after being awoken by the tremors.
Vikki Petts said: "So we just had a 4.3 magnitude earthquake in Kent and my housemates slept through the entire thing. certainly woke me up!"
Jonathan Tapp said: "Earthquake in East Kent and now can't get back to sleep. Despite months spent in NZ this is my first one that I've felt."
Iain Buchanan, of Ramsgate, said: "So I'm not going mental, my house shook due to an earthquake in Kent of all places. Thank god for 24 hrs news & social media to find out."
He added: "Lying in bed when the house suddenly shook. Thought something had collapsed outside, so got up to check.
"I've looked outside and all appears to be fine in the street. No damage that I can see. Will obviously see more later when it's lighter. Weird experience anyway.
