England Hit by 5.2 Quake, Biggest in U.K. Since 1984 (Update3)

By Alex Morales and Kari Lundgren

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. was hit by a magnitude-5.2 earthquake, the biggest since 1984, the British Geological Survey said. The temblor struck Lincolnshire, eastern England, and was felt from Southampton on the south coast to southern Scotland.

The quake hit at 12:56 a.m. local time about 5 miles (8 kilometers) east of the town of Market Rasen and was felt across England, the BGS said in a statement on its Web site. Residents of London, 125 miles to the south, were jolted awake, and chimneys and walls were damaged across Lincolnshire and in South Yorkshire, where one man was injured by falling masonry.

``I was in a very deep sleep when the bedroom started to shake, and there was a rumbling noise,'' Kevin Kerr, owner of the Limes Country House Hotel in Market Rasen said today in a telephone interview, adding that he didn't immediately realize it was an earthquake. ``Items were falling off cabinets and toiletries fell off the bathroom shelves.''

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