The first earthquake in more than a decade hit the Island yesterday.Although the tremors only measured a relatively minor 4.6 on the Richter Scale, the quake generated huge conversation texts and e-mails were sent and phone calls made asking one question: ‘Did you feel it?’No injuries were reported as a result of the tremor, which hit Bermuda around 12.40pm.There were also few damages reported popular women’s clothing store Atelerie suffered a cracked floor, and parts of an already damaged rock at Horseshoe Bay beach may have shifted. LF Wade International Airport general manager Aaron Adderley said flight arrivals and departures were not affected.Five earthquakes have occurred within 200km of the Island since 1988, according to the US Geological Survey Earthquake Database. Prior to yesterday’s the most recent took place in 1996. Scientists at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) said yesterday’s earthquake’s epicentre was around 56 miles to the Island’s west-northwest, and around 6.2 miles below the surface.BIOS director Tony Knap said: There are around 25,000 earthquakes recorded every year, and there were around 307 last week. “Most of them happen in the ocean simply because 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is water, but we are a long way from a fault line.”Earthquakes occur as plates of the Earth’s crust rub against each other along fault lines.The movement causes pressure to build up at the sides of the fault until the plates suddenly shift, releasing a great deal of energy. Most recorded earthquakes have a magnitude of less than 3.0 and are nearly impossible to feel. Severe damage is caused when earthquakes achieve a magnitude of 7.0 or higher.Larger earthquakes, such as the 9.0 magnitude one that recently devastated Japan, occur rarely. When earthquakes occur at sea they can cause large amounts of water to be displaced, leading to tsunamis.A Government spokeswoman said the Bermuda Weather Service (BWS) was notified of yesterday’s earthquake by the West Coast Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre.“It was reiterated at that time that there was no tsunami danger, and the BWS quickly went about the business of alerting the relevant authorities to that fact,” she said.BWS director Mark Guishard said the organisation was in touch with RCC Bermuda Radio, the Bermuda Police Service, the Emergency Measures Organisation and the Department of Airport Operations.Dozens of people called and wrote to The Royal Gazette to say they felt their buildings shake others said they didn’t feel a thing.An almost equal number sent pictures of a rock formation at Horseshoe Bay beach they believed had been damaged during the tremors, which are believed to have lasted for only a few seconds.That myth was debunked by National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief.He said: “I have consulted with the Department of Parks and it has been confirmed that while most of the damage is from Hurricane Igor in September 2010 [although] it is believed that a piece of rock may have shifted [yesterday].”Heather Macdonald, owner of Atelerie on Dundonald Street said her mother was at the store when the earthquake took place.“I didn’t feel anything myself,” she said. “When I came back I looked on the floor and I saw this crack and thought, ‘this wasn’t here before’.“I think there might have been something small, but definitely nothing this wide. I think the earthquake made it wider. It’s not comforting.”One office worker at Conyers, Dill and Pearman said she initially thought a large truck was behind the shaking. Moments later she and her colleagues realised they’d experienced an earthquake.“We were all afraid,” she said. “The entire building just started shaking. We had no idea what was happening.“We just looked at each other and we got out of the building. We all took the stairs because no one wanted to risk getting trapped in the elevator.”Another worker on the fourth floor of the building said: “I thought, there’s no way this is an earthquake. We don’t get those in Bermuda.”A man who was on the third floor of the HSBC building on Front Street said he could feel the entire structure shake. His co-worker, who was on the ground floor, said she didn’t feel anything.“I thought he was kidding me,” she said. “But now, it’s what everyone is talking about.”Spanish Point resident Sonja Turner said: “I was having lunch with my boyfriend and we heard a rumble and the floor shook under our feet and we had no idea what it was and we just looked at each other asking, ‘What was that?’”Christa Leduc said: “The house and the windows were shaking and I thought it was one of those crazy kids in a car with their boom box turned up full blast.”Annette Cook said she thought it was an engine starting up at Belco; Alison Mitchell said she thought it was only a truck, until her son’s aquarium began to rattle.Paul Beilstein lives at Shelly Hall in Hamilton Parish. The area was only recently affected by what residents claimed was a tornado.He told The Royal Gazette: “It sounded and felt like a really large truck going by. I looked to the window to see if a truck went past on the lane and then noticed the water in the jug was gently sloshing back and forth.“Wow, tornados and now earthquakes! Eventful year.”Sacha Bearden was on the phone in Warwick talking to someone in Hamilton. They both noticed the strange shaking.“I lived in San Francisco in 1989 for the Big One and it did feel awfully familiar,” she said.Shena Virgil posted on The Royal Gazette Facebook page: “I felt my office vibrate for about ten seconds and heard a rumbling noise.“I sat there holding my breath and thinking is this a tremor or the equipment in my basement breaking down? Pretty scary, but nothing compared to Japan, New Zealand, Chile etc.”Useful websites: www.weather.bm, www.usgc.gov, www.bios.edu.