Crash

First of all, let me make one thing clear... I have never experienced an earthquake. Well, apart from a tremor donkeys' years ago when I was inside a newspaper office in Northampton. So I have no idea how it feels to have the earth torn asunder beneath your feet.

But my first thought when our city centre office was left shaking this morning, and the air was filled with a sinister groaning noise, was that nature was playing a rather nasty, ground-splitting trick.

There was a huge thud and rumble and the building trembled. Everyone looked at each other nervously, but stayed put. Then, with an alarm going off intermittently, someone raced into the room to reveal the news.

Demolition workers are gradually taking down what is called the press hall - a brick and concrete extension to our offices where printing presses used to be housed before the business was 'consolidated'.

Clearly, they hadn't quite worked out their sums correctly because the entire roof of this considerable building had plunged to the ground. It's a miracle no one was killed.

The siren became continuous - indicating immediate evacuation - and the staff made for the staircases.

It was at this point that I realised how nervous I was. A colleague remarked: "It makes you aware of how people in 9/11 might have felt as they tried to escape down staircases."

You think of how much concrete is sitting above you. And at this stage you have no idea whether any of it might be in danger of collapsing.

Anyway, everyone got out, the firefighters at the scene did their job and checked the building to make sure it was safe.

And eventually we were allowed back in... looking for cracks as we climbed back up the staircase.

It's not the best photo, but I picked it because it shows the bustle outside. The building that collapsed is in the vacant area just beyond the structure on the left of the shot and can be seen in blips by my colleagues Emma and Dave.