a earthquake of magnitude 5.9 hit on Wednesday morning the southeast of theAustralia, in the Melbourne area, shaking buildings in Melbourne and running out of panicked residents, in a region not used to earthquakes.
The earthquake, which struck only ten kilometers deep, surprised residents of Australia’s second largest city at 9 a.m. (1 a.m. in Paris) and was felt hundreds of kilometers away. round.
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
Rescue services have received calls for help as far as Dubbo, about 700 kilometers from the epicenter.
The United States Institute for Geological Studies (USGS) put the magnitude at 5.8, before revising it to 5.9.
Most of Melbourne’s residents, confined for eight weeks, were at home by the time the earth shook.
“Very disturbing”
Scenes of panicked residents leaving homes have invaded social networks. Among them, Zume Phim, 33, owner of Melbourne’s Oppen cafe, rushed into the streets when the quake hit.
“The whole building was shaking. All the windows, the glass were shaking, like a wave of tremors ”, he told the AFP. « I had never experienced this. It was a little scary ”, he confides.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, responding from New York, insisted there were no casualties or significant damage. He nevertheless conceded the side “Very disturbing” earthquake for the population, in an area not used to tremors like Australia.
“Everything started to shake … Everyone was a little in shock”, testify to the AFP Parker Mayo, a 30-year-old cafe worker, as images emerge of the Chapel Street shopping area, with bricks on the floor.
Chapel St.
Wow. https://t.co/UeYIdJAr7j pic.twitter.com/1nksq7YkO7
— Tom Robertson (@TomCRobertson) September 21, 2021
A magnitude 4 aftershock occurred shortly after the first tremor.
Unusual in this region
Large earthquakes are unusual in Southeast Australia, a fairly densely populated region.
“I was sitting at work at my desk… it took me a while to figure out what it was”, the mayor of Mansfield, near the quake’s epicenter, Mark Holcombe, said on ABC.
It is the biggest earthquake in south-eastern Australia in years, Mike Sandiford, a geologist at the University of Melbourne, told AFP. An earthquake of this magnitude occurs every “10 to 20 years in South East Australia, the last was Thorpdale in 2012”, did he declare.
“We had very large magnitudes six in the late 1800s, although the precise magnitudes are not well known.”, he stressed.
Australians should expect “several hundred aftershocks”
Geoscience Australia said the earthquake was followed by a series of four aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 2.5 to 4.1.
Australians should expect “Several hundred aftershocks, most not perceptible by humans, but probably ten will be felt”, warned the scientist, speculating on the “Billions of dollars in damage” what would the earthquake have caused “If it had happened in Melbourne”.
Work to repair the damage could be complicated by containment and ongoing protests. Hundreds of people wearing work boots and construction jackets flocked to central Melbourne on Wednesday to protest against compulsory vaccination for construction workers as most construction sites were abruptly closed in the city.
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