Quake shakes homes
SOUTH Gippsland was rattled when an earthquake struck in the early hours of last Tuesday morning, April 5.
The earthquake measured a 3.4 magnitude and hit 10km south east of Leongatha at 5.42am, just off the South Gippsland Highway.
Geoscience Australia seismologist Andrea Thom said a number of people reported the quake and will assist in collating data for future research.
“We received over 50 reports from callers across South Gippsland on Tuesday morning alone. The first person called in nine minutes after the tremor,” Ms Thom said.
“Most people reported a sharp noise like a loud bang which lasted one or two seconds. Many people reported rattling and beds shaking. Dogs were barking and it apparently sounded like an explosion.”
The earthquake occurred seven kilometres beneath the earth’s surface.
“Most Australian earthquakes occur within the first 10km of earth and the more shallow the quake, the more vibrations will be felt,” Ms Thom said.
“Generally earthquakes in Victoria have a magnitude of between 2 and 3.5 however in saying that we have had exceptions. In 2009 Korumburra experienced a 4.6 quake and another in 2011 which read 4.4.”
Another earthquake in 2012 saw Moe struck with a 5.4 tremble that was felt across Gippsland. The quake, on June 19, was the biggest in 109 years, and lasted 30 to 40 seconds.
“South Gippsland is an active earthquake region of Australia. There are known fault lines and pressures have to be released through those fault lines. They often occur because of stresses building up in earth crust which have to be released,” Ms Thom said.
Andrew Mackie’s Andersons Road property was the closest to the quake’s epicentre and no property damage was reported.
“I slept straight through it,” he said.
“I did not hear or feel anything obvious and the house did not move.”
Meanwhile local businesses were relieved to open on Tuesday morning with next to no damage to stock.
“We have not noticed anything that was broken due to the earthquake,” Henrietta’s Leongatha owner Meg Steenholdt said.
“I am sure a few things were rattled but we were relieved to find nothing damaged.”
Facebook users reported their own experience of the event on The Star’s facebook page.
“I felt it in Fish Creek and thought it was thunder,” Sonya Denbrok wrote.
Other users reported feeling the quake in Foster, Hazelwood North, Korumburra and Nerrena.
Leongatha’s Sebastian Payne also felt the tremor at his Leongatha house.
“It woke me up. The house was shaking. I’m used to it now; this is about the third one,” he said.
Ms Thom said there is no way to predict whether or not South Gippsland would receive aftershocks from the event, however none have been reported at this time.
“There is potential for aftershocks but it is not really a cause for concern as they are usually smaller than the initial quake,” she said.
Close call: Henrietta’s Leongatha employee Janie Gordon checks stock around the business after an earthquake trembled across South Gippsland last Tuesday, April 5.
Visit www.ga.gov.au to submit your account of the event and help establish in depth earthquake data for the region.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Apr 12 2016. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
