Bermuda’s national cricket team received an unexpected early morning wake-up call in Antigua yesterday as a tremor measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook the Caribbean island at around 5.40 a.m.

The source of the tremor was located some 26 miles south east of the capital of St. John’s. And although there were no reports of injuries or structural damage, many at the cricket team’s home base at the Jolly Beach Resort were left shaken up by the ordeal which lasted for several seconds.

Team member Stephen Outerbridge was already awake when the early morning shudder occurred.

“I thought it was the end of the world,” the Bailey’s Bay cricketer said.

“I was just lying in my bed when all of a sudden it began to shake.

“So I got up to go and look outside to make sure everything was okay.”

Like most who were fast asleep at the time, Bermuda team physio Craig Brown was awoken by the tremor.

“I felt the shake and it woke me from my sleep,” said Mr. Brown.

“However, I didn’t understand what it was at the time because I had never experienced an earthquake before. “But now that I have, next time I will try and get to an exit as quick as possible.”

Top local umpire Roger Dill, in Antigua to officiate the ongoing ODI triangular series involving Bangladesh, Canada and Bermuda, also had his rest interrupted.

“I was wondering what was going on,” he said. “At first the room began to vibrate and then actually shake.

“It lasted for several seconds.”

Tyrone Galloway, a security guard at the hotel resort, was making his early morning rounds when the tremor occurred.

“I was putting up the flags on the beach and dealing with some errands for the hotel when I felt the earth shake,” the 27-year-old Guyanese national said.

“Sometimes we get a little shake, but I was surprised this morning because this was a powerful one. I wasn’t scared, but I was concerned.”

Claude Campbell, also an employee at the St. John’s resort, said: “It was about quarter to six and I was sitting in the restaurant when all of a sudden I felt this big shake.”

“I honestly got scared, trust me. But then I realised it was an earthquake a few seconds later,” added the 36-year-old security guard.

“I was left stunned because this was the first time I have experienced a tremor this big here in Antigua.

“The lamps in the restaurant began to shake and then some of the plates fell down on the floor.

“We do get a little shake maybe once every two or three years. But this one here was the most serious I have ever felt.”