While rare on a human timescale, damaging earthquakes in England are not unknown - there's a general ancient trend of crustal weakness extending NW from the Alps through Europe - there were a couple quite powerful quakes in Belgium and Holland in 1983 and 1992, with serious damage in the millions of dollars.
Per Wikipedia, fairly near to todays quake was the 1884 Colchester quake that seems to have been of similar magnitude to todays, and also near the 1580 Dover Straits quake which is apparently referenced in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
I see the apocalyptikooks are already posting Bible verse. Sigh.
“I see the apocalyptikooks are already posting Bible verse. Sigh.”
2 Peter 3:3-5
3Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.