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A quake of 3.9 on the Richter scale – which can often cause shaking indoors – hit at 3.43, with the epicentre being near to Vern-sur-Seiche and Janzé and 4km underground.

Social media briefly buzzed with residents woken suddenly, some wondering if it was real or part of a dream. The departmental emergency centre of Ile-et-Vilaine also report receiving dozens of calls in the middle of the night.

This is one of the largest quakes in France this year, equal to one north of Châteaubriant in Pays-de-la-Loire last month and second only to a magnitude 4 ‘light’ earthquake that hit at Bagnorrès-de-Bigorre in the Pyrenees in April.

While very small earthquakes are common in the south-east of France, ones large enough to feel happen more often in the north-west and south-west.