World
1News

Magnitude 5.8 earthquake strikes Victoria

September 22, 2021

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Victoria just after 9am (11am NZT) on Wednesday, with masonry reportedly falling off some Melbourne buildings.

Geoscience Australia said the epicentre of the quake was in Mansfield, which is about 180 kilometres north-east of Melbourne by road.

There is reportedly no tsunami threat and the quake was about 10km deep. 

A Kiwi living in Melbourne told 1News it was "very triggering", with a "hectic" atmosphere in Melbourne given the recent protests .

"I thought I was going to have to dive under the table," she said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is in New York as he's been meeting with US President Joe Biden, says there are no reports of serious injuries. 

He said there was also a magnitude 4.0 aftershock recorded near the Mansfield epicentre.

"It can be a very, very disturbing event for an earthquake of this nature," he told reporters.

"They are very rare events in Australia and as a result, I am sure people would have been quite depressed and disturbed by that, particularly in the most immediate area affected."

Any federal response to the emergency will be handled by Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.

GeoNet said in a tweet the quake was the largest on land earthquake in Australia since 1997.

"Earthquakes in Australia are reasonably uncommon, being far from the active tectonic zones of the Australian plate (like the one we live on!)," it said.

The 5.8 magnitude tremor centred near the small town of Mansfield in the state's north-east, followed by several strong aftershocks.

Seismology Research Centre Chief Scientist Adam Pascale said aftershocks could continue for months, although people may not feel them.

"A magnitude 5.8 makes this the largest onshore earthquake in Victoria in recorded history," he told AAP.

"It's a pretty significant earthquake for this state.

"There've been aftershocks every few minutes afterwards, the largest (4.7) about 15 minutes afterwards. We expect those aftershocks to continue for months probably."

AAP also reports houses in Melbourne shook and movement could be felt in Geelong and even at Canberra's Parliament House.

The SES is receiving calls for assistance from across the state and is yet to make an assessment of any damage.

AAP reports tremors were also felt as far away as the NSW central coast, nearly 1000km from Melbourne.

Building movement was reported in Sydney's CBD, and people at home in some suburbs of Sydney reported feeling the quake on social media.

There are reports of damage in Prahran, Brunswick, West Melbourne and Albert Park and to the exterior of Betty's Burgers on Chapel Street in Windsor.

Mansfield Shire Councillor Mark Holcombe said he lived in the area for 20 years but had never experienced an earthquake. He said it "came out of left field".

"It was really strong. I was sitting down at work at my desk and I needed to run outside, it took me a while to work out what it was," he told ABC television.

"I have been in earthquakes overseas before and it seemed to go on longer than I have experienced before.

"The other thing that surprised me was how noisy it was. It was a real rumbling like a truck going past."

SHARE ME

More Stories