Earthquake in HAMPSHIRE! Winchester hit by 2.9 magnitude tremor that 'felt like an explosion'

• Tremor happened about a mile under the cathedral city at 6.30pm
• One resident told the British Geological Survey the 'whole bed shook'
• Others said it set off car alarms and rattled glasses in cupboards

An earthquake with a magnitude of 2.9 on the Richter scale was recorded last night in Hampshire.

Residents in the Kingsworthy area of Winchester said the tremor ‘felt like an explosion’ when it hit at about 6.30pm.

Local Jen Gupta tweeted: ‘Our house shook enough to rattle glasses in the cupboard, accompanied by a boom sound!’

Shaking things up: Residents in Winchester (pictured) said the tremor ‘felt like an explosion’ last night

Another, Robert Hilton, said: ‘Everyone out on the street, car alarms going off and dogs barking.’

The British Geological Survey recorded the earthquake being centred a mile underground of the cathedral city.

One resident called the organisation to say the earthquake sounded like a bus crashing ‘into the neighbours house at speed’, while another said: 'The whole bed was visibly shaking'. 

A third resident told the BGS: 'At least five other households ran outside to make sense of what had shook the houses.'

Earthquake data in July last year showed an increasing number of quakes in the UK.

One hundred were recorded in the first three months of last year and 149 up to July, compared to 154 throughout 2013.

Novelty: Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service called the earthquake in Winchester (pictured) 'impressive'

A spokesman for Hampshire Police said no explanation or cause for the shaking could be found.

'No injuries have been reported,' the spokesman said.

‘We will continue to investigate to see if a valid explanation can be found but in the meantime would urge all those who heard or felt it not to be alarmed.' 

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service called the earthquake, which happened south of the village of Headbourne Worthy, ‘impressive’.

A spokesman tweeted: ‘Seems like reports of small tremor in Winchester area this evening true, our crews have been out and found nothing.