Biggest earthquake in three years rattles Melbourne, Victoria
The biggest earthquake to hit the state in three years abruptly has woken sleepers in regional Victoria and rattled Melburnians in the early hours of Saturday.
The magnitude 4.8 tremor was recorded by Geoscience Australia just after 2am with an epicentre six kilometres north-east of the South Gippsland town of Korumburra, about 103 kilometres south-east of Melbourne.
The geographical spread of “felt reports” after an earthquake hit Victoria.Geoscience AustraliaSeismology Research Centre chief scientist Adam Pascale has warned the seismic activity is far from over.
He has recorded dozens of aftershocks, the largest hitting the scale at a magnitude of 3.1 at 2.56am.
“I can see [aftershocks] popping off every couple of minutes and they’ll probably go on for weeks,” he said.
“There’s potential for another of similar, or potentially larger, magnitude in the first few days or weeks afterwards.”
More than 16,000 reports of the initial quake have already been lodged with GeoScience Australia.
The federal government agency reported the tremor had a depth of 10 kilometres.
Victorians across the state were shaken awake as far as Newport in the west and Whittlesea in the north-east.
Armadale’s Michelle Wade woke up to her apartment building and bed shaking.
“I could hear things falling down hitting the apartment floor above me,” she said. “It’s not something you expect when you’re sleeping. It definitely took me a while to settle my nerves.”
Jane Barnes thought she was hearing possums on the roof until she felt the floor shaking beneath her feet in Caulfield South.
“The windows shook and the whole house creaked. I couldn’t sleep after that one! Scary, scary!”
The Victoria State Emergency Service also confirmed the tremor and alerted crews but have not received any requests for assistance and there has been no reports of building damage.
Seismic activity has spiked in Victoria since a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in September 2021 damaged buildings in Melbourne and was felt across south-eastern Australia.
That was the largest recorded within metropolitan Melbourne for 120 years, and aftershocks from that earthquake included a magnitude 3.8 quake near Sunbury in May 2023.
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake on the Great Ocean Road rattled parts of Melbourne in October 2023, and Saturday’s quake was the state’s largest since then.
In June 2023, more than 10,000 people reported feeling a magnitude 4.6 quake with an epicentre near Mount Baw Baw.
More recently, in August last year, hundreds of people were shaken awake by a magnitude 3.2 earthquake on the Mornington Peninsula.
Experts have previously told The Age these tremors were part of normal seismic activity in the aftermath of the September 2021 earthquake.
“Tonight’s earthquake is a timely reminder to know what to do when an earthquake occurs,” the SES said.
“Drop to the ground, cover under a sturdy piece of furniture and protect your head and neck [and] hold on until the shaking stops.”
Anyone in need of assistance is advised to call the SES on 132 500.
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