A small earthquake has been recorded in South Wales – about eight miles north of the Rhondda Valley – just before midnight.

Matt O’Shea, from the Blaenau Gwent area, told Sky News his “whole house shook for about five seconds”, others said it felt like their property had been hit by a car.

Many on social media said they were initially unsure what had happened.

Twitter user @Loz_Coult94 said: “Thought someone was breaking into my house, no… just an earthquake IN WALES!?”

Others described objects such as bookshelves and desks moving.

“I’m in Rhymney and felt the house shake, looked online to see if anyone else did.. and it was an earthquake in South Wales. I think I need a change of trousers,” tweeted @KrissOttley.

Helen Caswell added: “Our whole house shook in Rassau, Ebbw Vale and woke my husband up!! Really frightened us.”

“I thought some idiot had driven into my front door the way my room shook,” said Jack Hill, from Risca in Gwent, on Facebook.

The 11.59pm tremor was 3.8 magnitude and occurred at a depth of two kilometres, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

It put the location as 12km (7.45 miles) north of Rhondda.

Google’s Android Earthquake Alerts System said the tremor was 4.2 magnitude.

The British Geological Survey, the UK’s main provider of quake data, has not yet issued any information.