A FATHER from Blackrod is among the holidaymakers caught up in the earthquake to hit the Greek island of Kos which claimed two lives in the early hours.

Noel Boardman and his family, including his three-old-daughter Emily, have text and spoken to worried family and friends back home to tell them they are okay.

Mr Boardman, aged 38, said: "It was the scariest thing that I have ever experienced.

"We were in bed which was shaking and the hotel was rocking.

"I woke up and realised it was an earthquake.

"We ran out of the hotel it was sheer panic people screaming, water was flooding the street. Staff were shouting get under a table, the tables around the bar area are only just big enough to put my knee under let alone my full body.

"So we sat in the street the the thought of a tsunami entered my head as our hotel is right next to the beach so I grabbed my baby and ran up three flights of stairs got to the top and the building shook again so I ran down and out again."

Fortunately the holidaymakers, who were staying in the resort of Kardamena are all okay, but there thoughts are with those who have been killed and injured in the disaster.

Community answers

Kos earthquake - Have you been affected?

"Get in touch with your messages and pictures if you're in Greece or Turkey"

We asked for your responses - this is what you sent.

From Community contributor

What is your response?Got to say I don't recognise that as what happened. The hotel staff were calm and organised. There was no panic. I'm in the same hotel. The aftershocks were the following day. We were so concerned we went out and had another beer.

From allan hulme

What is your response?Me and my wife Joanne are from Atherton. We are at the minute in Altinkum in Turkey, just over an hour away from Bodrum. We have an apartment in Altinkum and we have been coming for 12 years. Last night was the scariest experience ever with the eathquake. We were both fast asleep when we were both woken up suddenly just after 1.30 am when the whole of the apartment was violently shaking. Joanne screamed and shouted "what's going on" the noise was horrendous. All you could hear was a loud rumbling and metal banging as the buildings around us swayed from side to side, There were people screaming in the streets and we could hear car alarms going off all over town. We ran outside as did all the other residents in the neighbourhood and just sat down on the pavements. We stayed outside for about an hour then people gradually started to make their way back into their apartments. There have been several aftershocks since but nothing quite as big as that. Fortunately nobody has been injured and there has been no reported damage. We don't have any pictures of what happened because we just ran out and left everything inside the apartment. It was only last year when we were in Altinkum that there was the failed military coup too! That was bad but nothing compared to the earthquake last night.

From allan hulme

What is your response?Me and my wife Joanne are from Atherton. We are at the minute in Altinkum in Turkey, just over an hour away from Bodrum. We have an apartment in Altinkum and we have been coming for 12 years. Last night was the scariest experience ever with the eathquake. We were both fast asleep when we were both woken up suddenly just after 1.30 am when the whole of the apartment was violently shaking. Joanne screamed and shouted "what's going on?" the noise was horrendous. All you could hear was a loud rumbling and metal banging as the buildings around us swayed from side to side, There were people screaming in the streets and we could hear car alarms going off all over town. We ran outside as did all the other residents in the neighbourhood and just sat down on the pavements. We stayed outside for about an hour then people gradually started to make their way back into their apartments. There have been several aftershocks since but nothing quite as big as that. Fortunately nobody has been injured and there has been no reported damage. We don't have any pictures of what happened because we just ran out and left everything inside the apartment. It was only last year when we were in Altinkum that there was the failed military coup too! That was bad but nothing compared to the eartquake last night.

Mr Boardman, a sky engineer, said: "My concern was for my daughter, not for myself.

"We were looking at staying in the old town, but stayed in Kardemena which is a few miles out."

The quake, said to have been up to a magnitude of 6.7, struck south of the Turkish city of Bodrum and east of the Greek island of Kos — areas popular with British holidaymakers.

Buildings on Kos were damaged by the tremors, which prompted a small tsunami, flooding parts of the island.

Tourists had to flee their hotel rooms when the quake hit at around 1.30am, and have been experiencing aftershocks throughout the night.

More than 120 have been injured in the earthquake.

Community answers

Kos earthquake - Have you been affected?

"Get in touch with your messages and pictures if you're in Greece or Turkey"

We asked for your responses - this is what you sent.

From Community contributor

What is your response?Got to say I don't recognise that as what happened. The hotel staff were calm and organised. There was no panic. I'm in the same hotel. The aftershocks were the following day. We were so concerned we went out and had another beer.

From allan hulme

What is your response?Me and my wife Joanne are from Atherton. We are at the minute in Altinkum in Turkey, just over an hour away from Bodrum. We have an apartment in Altinkum and we have been coming for 12 years. Last night was the scariest experience ever with the eathquake. We were both fast asleep when we were both woken up suddenly just after 1.30 am when the whole of the apartment was violently shaking. Joanne screamed and shouted "what's going on" the noise was horrendous. All you could hear was a loud rumbling and metal banging as the buildings around us swayed from side to side, There were people screaming in the streets and we could hear car alarms going off all over town. We ran outside as did all the other residents in the neighbourhood and just sat down on the pavements. We stayed outside for about an hour then people gradually started to make their way back into their apartments. There have been several aftershocks since but nothing quite as big as that. Fortunately nobody has been injured and there has been no reported damage. We don't have any pictures of what happened because we just ran out and left everything inside the apartment. It was only last year when we were in Altinkum that there was the failed military coup too! That was bad but nothing compared to the earthquake last night.

From allan hulme

What is your response?Me and my wife Joanne are from Atherton. We are at the minute in Altinkum in Turkey, just over an hour away from Bodrum. We have an apartment in Altinkum and we have been coming for 12 years. Last night was the scariest experience ever with the eathquake. We were both fast asleep when we were both woken up suddenly just after 1.30 am when the whole of the apartment was violently shaking. Joanne screamed and shouted "what's going on?" the noise was horrendous. All you could hear was a loud rumbling and metal banging as the buildings around us swayed from side to side, There were people screaming in the streets and we could hear car alarms going off all over town. We ran outside as did all the other residents in the neighbourhood and just sat down on the pavements. We stayed outside for about an hour then people gradually started to make their way back into their apartments. There have been several aftershocks since but nothing quite as big as that. Fortunately nobody has been injured and there has been no reported damage. We don't have any pictures of what happened because we just ran out and left everything inside the apartment. It was only last year when we were in Altinkum that there was the failed military coup too! That was bad but nothing compared to the eartquake last night.

The Foreign Office advised Britons in surrounding areas to follow the advice of local authorities and tour operators.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are speaking to the Turkish and Greek authorities following an earthquake off the coast of Bodrum and near the island of Kos.

"Any British people in the areas affected should follow the instructions of local authorities."

Matty Brown was also in Kardemena DJing in Downtown Club in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The 27-year-old from Farnworth has been working in Greece since June, with plans to return home in October, and has experience quakes before.

He said: "It is a basement club and we felt the full effect of it.

"It was pretty surreal, it is the strongest one I've been. Luckily we are on the southern side of the island and the quake was in the north east.

"I heard a massive load rumble over the music and felt it in my feet. I turned the music down and bit and the rumbling got loader and loader.

"Things started to hake and it was hard to balance _ it was like being on a rocking horse or something.

"At first I thought 'what's going on?' Then it clicked in my head. It got worse and worse and it felt like it went on for five minutes but it was probably only 30 seconds to a minute.

"There was mass panic and I turned the music off and tried to calm people down.

"Everything was rocking and people were struggling to stand up. It was really, really surreal!"

The clubbers waited out the quake in the club before going outside. A couple of hours later Mr Brown returned to the DJ decks but aftershock tremors from the quake were felt in the hours afterwards.

On returning to his temporary home in a local hotel, Mr Brown discovered more fall out.

He adds: "My room is below the level of the pool and I had to check I hadn't been flooded.

"Water had gone over the side and leaked indoors so I was mopping up at 8 in the morning.

"All the buildings on this side of the island are modern and reenforced but there are still cracks."