‘THOUGHT IT WAS AN EXPLOSION’:

IT’S not every day Wales is hit by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake. So when the biggest one in more than a century in the area happened yesterday, it came as quite as a surprise for most people.

Out and about enjoying their daily lives, the tremors certainly made an impact – lighting up social media seconds after it struck.

Trending on Twitter and blasted all over Facebook, it wasn’t long before people started discussing what they had been up to in that moment of Welsh history.

Leyton Thomas, 55, who lives in Cwmllynfell, which was confirmed as the epicentre of the earthquake, said: “I was sitting in the house with my wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandson. We heard a massive shudder that lasted for two to three seconds. My son turned to me and said ‘Dad, I think the house has moved six inches.’ Then all of a sudden it was over.

“It was a real shock that the epicentre was here, it felt like someone was shaking the house. My son rang me later to say that one of the photos on his wall had fallen off and smashed.

“It was frightening, I can’t imagine what it must be like for some countries that have big earthquakes.”

Jane Slee was enjoying a show when the earthquake hit.

She said: “In Swansea Grand Theatre watching All Shook Up. The building shook after a bang. I thought maybe a World War Two bomb somewhere”.

Jane Pritchard was in Swansea marina when she thought someone crashed into a building.

She said: “Definitely felt it in Swansea Marina. Heard a loud bang and everything shook. Thought something had crashed into the building.

“Frightening not knowing what it was. Almost a relief to find out it was an earthquake felt by so many other people. Thought I’d imagined it.”

Some people blamed the noise on their children or pets.

Rosie Brown said: “Was about to shout at the kids to stop thinking they were jumping off the top bunk upstairs only to realise they were drawing quietly and the shaking continued.”

Jenna Perry said: “I thought my dog was going mad and running into my sofa until I noticed he was asleep on the stairs. We all felt it in Abertysswg”.

Charlotte Folland said: “I was in the bath, water started shaking like Jurassic Park.”

Worse still, some people were on the loo and had no idea what had happened.

Brian Davies said: “I was sitting on the toilet. I came out and asked my wife did you feel the earth move? No, she said, so I put it down to my imagination”. But for some, it was even freakier. Ronnie Marshall said: “It’s a mad coincidence but my cousin was sitting next to my mum and wrote a story for school about an earthquake hitting us and then about 10 minutes after she finished we had an earthquake. So my mum has now told her to write a story about us winning the lottery.”

Vlogger Becky, above, was in the middle of filming a video when she stopped to see what had happened.

She said: “I was filming and genuinely thought a tree fell through my house. Imagine Wales having an earthquake!”

The earthquake even stopped a football match.

Port Talbot Town FC tweeted that they stopped playing.

They wrote: “‘43’ – temporary stop in play. A recorded earthquake in the area. Incredible.”