Residents in Essex were woken early this morning by a minor earthquake reaching 2.6 on the Richter Scale.

At around 05:05 am Thursday morning an earthquake struck the Essex region with an epicentre at a depth of around 8 kilometres beneath Bicknacre.

Those in the area say the impact sounded like an explosion with many still sleeping as it hit causing some furniture to fall.

The Richter Scale was introduced in 1935 with 10 levels. As a logarithmic scale each level is around ten times more powerful than the previous.

For example, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake is 10 times more powerful than a 5.0 magnitude event.

An earthquake of 2.6 magnitude generally causes some swinging in hanging objects but no significant impact.

Meanwhile, Turkey continues to feel the impact of a 7.8 magnitude quake on Tuesday.

Earthquakes of this magnitude are classified as ‘major’ events resulting in cracks to the earth impacting buildings and infrastructure.

Latest figures show a death toll now passing 15,000 across Turkey and Syria as rescue efforts continue to help those trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

A cold spell is continues to impact rescue efforts with temperatures again dropping below freezing overnight into Friday.