Earthquake hits Melbourne for the third time in just a week as shocked locals brace for more: ‘I thought it was a truck!’
- Magnitude 2.4 quake hit Mornington Peninsula
- The quake was recorded shortly after midday
- More than 100 people reported tremors
Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula was rocked by a 2.4 magnitue earthquake on Saturday, the third to hit the state within a week.
The earthquake struck just after midday at a depth of 8km, according to Geoscience Australia.
Dozens of terrified residents felt the tremor near Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula and in Frankston on Melbourne’s outskirts with more than 100 reports recorded to Geoscience Australia by 2.30pm.
There are currently no reports of major damage at this stage.
One man said he ‘thought it was a truck’ when the tremor was felt.
Another local added: ‘Felt or rather heard it…a rumble and bang near front door mid-morning at Mornington. Thought it was rowdy neighbours!’
A third wrote: ‘Heard and felt here at Safety Beach. Thought it was a big clap of thunder!’
Tremors were also felt in Cranbourne in Melbourne’s south-east outskirts.
A 2.2 magnitude earthquake has shaken the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology
Victoria has been rocked by a third earthquake within six days
Other Melburnians on the other side of Port Phillip Bay said they didn’t feel anything.
‘Wtf was there just an earthquake in Melbourne’ one person tweeted.
The Bureau of Meteorology says there is no tsunami threat for Australia.
‘Based on the magnitude and location of this earthquake, the JATWC (Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre) has assessed that there is no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, island or territories from this earthquake,’ the bureau said.
No further updates will be issued unless the situation changes.
It comes after a 3.8 magnitude earthquake woke up Melburnians last Sunday night which was later upgraded to a magnitude 4.
Residents reported feeling the quake as far north as Albury on the Victoria-NSW border and as far south as Hobart.
It was thought to be the largest earthquake to impact the Melbourne metropolitan area in over 120 years, with cameras inside a radio station capturing the moment live on air.
Dozens of residents felt the tremor on the Mornington Peninsula (pictured)
Residents in the CBD claimed they could feel the tremor, with some reporting their walls and windows were shaking.
Dr Dee Ninis, an earthquake geologist, said it was ‘widely felt across Melbourne’.
Sunday’s earthquake was followed by a 2.3 magnitude quake felt in Croydon on Tuesday afternoon.
An expert has warned this week’s quakes in the southern state may not be the last.
‘These events are unpredictable, but stress distribution has changed recently, so be prepared for more activity,’ Seismology Research Centre seismologist Adam Pascale tweeted on Saturday.
In 2021, a 5.9 earthquake damaged buildings after striking Mansfield in the Victorian Alps.
That earthquake was felt as far away as Launceston and Sydney.
Residents living in Melbourne’s CBD said they could feel the walls of their apartment shaking during last Sunday night’s earthquake
