RESIDENTS were shocked to be woken up by an earthquake in the early hours of this morning.

The quake was picked up by British Geological Survey (BGS) sensors at Gatwick at 1.19 this morning.

Several people in Sussex took to social media to say they had felt the tremor.

One Twitter user from Ifield Wood in Crawley, said: “As if I’m saying I’ve just been woken up by an earthquake again. What is happening?”

Another added: “Did an earthquake just happen in Crawley? My whole flat just shook underneath me.”

The BGS has said it received dozens of reports from people disturbed by the quake.

A spokeswoman said that preliminary information indicated a 2.5-magnitude quake centred on Newdigate in Surrey had struck at a depth of 2.3km.

She added: "About 100 reports from members of the public in the epicentral area have been received so far and many others have taken to social media to report their experience.

"Typical reports described 'windows and doors shook', 'felt like some sort of explosion' and 'a loud bang woke me up'."

A Crawley resident said: “An earthquake in Crawley at about 1.19am shook my house and had a cup rattling.

“Definitely another Crawley tremor.”

This follows a 3.0 magnitude earthquake which hit Newdigate in Surrey, on February 27.

There was also a 2.0 magnitude tremor on February 19 and 2.4 and 0.2 quakes on February 14.

Concerns were raised that the quakes were the result of nearby oil and gas exploration.

Stephen Hicks, seismologist at Imperial College London, said at the time that, while scientists were “keeping an open mind”, there was “still no available evidence which points towards the triggering by man-made activities”.