UCL in the News: Emergency services assess tremor damage

The tremor, which struck at 8:18 a.m., was the largest British earthquake since the one that hit Dudley in the West Midlands in 2002.

"Damaging earthquakes are rare but not unknown in the UK, and the Kent region is one of those areas that has experienced them before," said Professor Bill McGuire, Director of the Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre.

"Two big quakes shook the Dover Straits in 1382 and 1580, reportedly causing widespread damage in adjacent areas of England and France."

McGuire said the largest recent tremor in Britain was the 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake, which measured 6.1 on the Richter scale and was felt in France and Belgium."

'Daily Mirror'