An earthquake rocked Melbourne at 9.15am Wednesday.
The Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) reports that the magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred with an epicentre near Mansfield in Victoria. People around Melbourne felt the quake, with residents as far as Canberra and Sydney reporting that they felt tremors.
Geoscience Australia, the government body that reports on significant earthquakes, said that the depth of the earthquake had a depth of 10km.
There are reports of significant damage in some parts of Victoria.
Just off Chapel Street in Prahran after the earthquake. Apologies for the bad language. Can’t really blame them! pic.twitter.com/YWVkOPgl3i
— Stephen Quartermain (@Quartermain10) September 21, 2021
Earthquake in Melbourne here a shop got damaged somewhere in Brunswick St Fitzroy pic.twitter.com/CqDuE0B9q1
— Peter Kalla 🇺🇦 (@PeterKalla1) September 21, 2021
I was driving at the time and missed it, but my security camera caught the Melbourne #earthquake Sound on! pic.twitter.com/0DJQY3KSyw
— Peter Wallhead (@peterwallhead) September 22, 2021
Victorian SES is calling on people to report if they have damage or require SES assistance, by phoning 132500.
A magnitude 6.0 #Earthquake has occurred with an epicentre near Mansfield in Victoria. Widespread felt reports. If you have building damage or require SES assistance, phone 132500 and please be patient as lines may be busy. pic.twitter.com/8RUqnk4Iwb
— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) September 21, 2021
There are multiple fault lines around Melbourne. On average, there are several earthquakes in eastern Australia every day, usually not significant enough to be felt by the general population and not as often as in other parts of the world.
Aftershocks of 4.8 are expected today, but there is currently no tsunami threat.
The previous strongest quake recorded in the state was a magnitude 5.7 quake at Mount Hotham in May 1966.
A large earthquake had struck Melbourne on 19 June, 2012, which occurred 120 kilometres southeast at about 10km northwest of the town of Budgeree. It was felt across the city at the time.
Emergency services have also urged Victorians to brace for aftershocks throughout the day.
