THE biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years has shaken homes across East Lancashire.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the epicentre of the 5.2 magnitude quake was near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.

First reports came in just before 1am and the tremors were felt as far away as Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Manchester, the Midlands, Norfolk and parts of Wales.

Inspector Simon Atkinson, based at Lancashire Police headquarters at Hutton, said the force had received more than 200 calls from residents but there were no reports of anyone in the county being injured.

Insp Atkinson said: "I timed it at 12.58am and it lasted five seconds.

"All the chairs and desks in the police station were moving.

"We took a spike of calls in 10 minutes of about 200 calls from concerned and curious members of the public but no injuries or damage was reported."

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue said they received half a dozen phone calls from curious residents but were only called out to one incident in Freckleton where a chimney stack had come loose as a result of the quake.

A man suffered leg injuries when a chimney collapsed in South Yorkshire.

Dr Brian Baptie of the BGS said: "An earthquake of this size, of magnitude five or thereabouts, will occur roughly every ten to 20 years in the UK," he said.

The BGS recorded an aftershock with a magnitude of 1.8 at about 4am.

The main 10-second quake, which struck at 12.56am at a depth of 15.4km (9.6 miles), was the biggest recorded example since one with a magnitude of 5.4 struck north Wales in 1984.

Dr Baptie said: "The largest earthquake that we know about that has struck the UK was about 100km off the east coast of England on the Dogger Bank and it had a magnitude of 6.1.

"So we can get these kind of moderate to significant earthquakes of this size but they're relatively rare."