THE Earth moved for West Somerset last Thursday night when a 3.4 magnitude earthquake centred south of Taunton was felt as far away as Minehead, Tiverton and Bridgwater.

The British Geological Survey reported that the tremor, one of the largest recently experienced in the UK, affected up to 400,000 people and aftershocks were felt 70 miles away.

The earthquake’s epicentre was at Culmhead on the edge of the Blackdown Hills but tremors spread as widely as Weston-super-Mare and even Blandford Forum in Dorset.

The BGS said a magnitude of 3.2 was equivalent to the energy released by the largest conventional World War Two bombs.

West Somerset residents took to Twitter to describe furniture moving, objects falling from shelves and windows and doors shaking.

One said: “I thought something like a lorry had hit the side of the house” and another reported: “The whole place trembled and the dog was petrified.”

No-one was reported injured but aftershocks continued for several days and were recorded as far away as Torquay.

In 2004 a 3.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded near Bridgwater and in 2006 one of 2.5 rattled West Somerset.