TREMORS were felt from Malvern to Hereford when a minor earthquake struck the outskirts of Bromyard on Sunday evening.

West Mercia Police received up to 20 calls from concerned members of the public as the quake, measuring 3.6 on the Richter Scale, rattled crockery and shook windows.

Its epicentre was traced to Collington, a few miles from Bromyard, by the British Geological Survey.

Jeremy Holden, founder of Bromyard firm Holden Aluminium Technologies, was visiting his brother in Bishops Frome when he heard the floor-shaking rumble.

He said: “I was sitting in my brother’s kitchen and I literally felt the kitchen floor and walls shake.

“I thought a chimney had fallen off the roof outside. It didn’t feel like a lorry or anything like that. It was much more powerful.”

Noreen Duigan, landlady of Bromyard pub the King’s Head, received calls from her family in Ireland after they had heard about the quake on the news.

It also explained the mystery of why her daughter’s car alarm suddenly went off just after 6pm.

Police said most reports came from an area between Malvern and Worcester but that they received one call from a woman in Dudley, 46 miles away from Bromyard.

David Galloway, a seismologist at the BGS, said: “We record about 200 earthquakes a year but most go unnoticed by the general public. One or two a month are felt and this was quite widely felt.”

The shock was widely felt across Malvern, with witnesses likening it to heavy furniture falling, a heavy vehicle rumbling by or falling chimneys. In some areas householders rushed into the streets.

Consulting engineer Lewis Bryer of Manby Road, Malvern, said a table at his home moved an inch across the floor. He said the quake might have caused small amounts of damage to buildings, particularly modern, less flexible ones. He advised people to check for cracks around window and door openings.

Tom Richards of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust said the quake may have been caused by movement along the Brockhampton or Colwall Faults. He said Herefordshire is one of most seismically active areas in the country.