Magnitude 4.9 earthquake rattles
Earthquake was centered on the east coast north of London
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries
Britain's strongest recorded quake was the North Sea quake of June 7, 1931
(CNN) -- A magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook Britain early Wednesday, centered on the east coast north of London, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The quake's center was about 125 miles (205 km) north of London. It struck just before 0100 GMT.
"It felt pretty scary," Haydn Jones of Nottingham, who lives in a third-floor apartment, told CNN. He said he has lived abroad in Japan and knew immediately what it was, but felt that a lot of those in England "didn't really know what was going on."
Jones likened the feeling to "someone very big and angry jumping on the ceiling below you, rather than the floor."
He believed the shaking lasted about 10 seconds, but said, "time sort of stands still for you." He said there was no damage in his area.
The USGS classifies earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 to magnitude 4.9 as "light."
Earthquakes frequently hit Britain -- between 200 and 300 annually, according to the British Geological Survey, although most have a magnitude of less than 2. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 to 4.9 hit mainland Britain about once every two years and strike beneath the North Sea about once per year.
Britain's strongest recorded quake was the North Sea quake of June 7, 1931, with a magnitude of 6.1. It was felt across the British isles and in northwestern Germany. The quake killed one person.
The most powerful onshore quakes occurred on July 19, 1984, in north Wales (magnitude 5.1) and on April 2, 1990, along the Welsh border with England (5.1 magnitude).
A 4.6 magnitude quake in Colchester on April 22, 1884, was Britain's most damaging earthquake, knocking spires from churches and masonry from roofs. Turrets and parapets also fell, and brick walls and chimneys collapsed. Two people were killed.
