THE earth moved for thousands of people yesterday.

Houses shook and windows smashed along the North Yorkshire coastline, prompting feverish speculation that the region had been struck by an earthquake.

International media attention focused on Scarborough and Whitby throughout the day, as homeowners told stories of seismic rumblings and an ear-splitting bang.

John Priestley, whose home overlooks the North Bay at Scarborough, said: "I have experienced two earthquakes and this certainly felt like a small one. The floor of my house trembled and the windows rattled."

But as investigating scientists confirmed that no earthquakes had been detected on equipment sited across the country, eyes began to turn skywards for the answer.

And although the arrival of a meteorite could not be ruled out, experts are confident the tremors were caused by a sonic boom.

Bennett Simpson, of the British Geological Survey (BGS), said: "It wasn't an earthquake but a sonic event, most likely an aircraft going through the sound barrier.

"Houses can shake and the effects are very similar to those of an earthquake."

The Ministry of Defence and the RAF launched investigations. It is thought jets were in the area at 11.40am, when the tremors struck.

Although there is an exclusion zone around the UK barring aircraft from going supersonic, Mr Simpson said operational jets off the coast could spark a sonic boom. The BGS records up to a dozen such incidents a year.

North Yorkshire Police were inundated with calls about the reported tremor