By Charlene Gatt
THE earth shook for about five seconds in Brimbank last week, in the state’s second earthquake in a month.
The earthquake, which measured 4.6 on the Richter scale, struck at 4.28pm last Wednesday about five kilometres north-west of Korumburra in South Gippsland.
Aftershocks were reported in North Sunshine, Melbourne’s CBD, Port Melbourne, St Kilda, Tullamarine, Broadford, Coldstream, Caulfield, West Heidelberg, Heathmont, Richmond, Cheltenham, Keysborough, South Gippsland, Box Hill, Warrandyte, Glen Waverley, Emerald and Patterson Lakes.
Ian Smith, who was in his Maribyrnong home at the time of the earthquake, said the tremor had rattled the whole house.
A single glass that had fallen off his bar was the only damage.
Mr Smith said his kelpie was acting funny about 20 minutes before the tremor passed through the house.
“He was jumping at the window and running around – he was really going mad. It was like he could sense something going on,” he said.
“It was just strange.”
The earthquake comes nearly two weeks after an earthquake of the same magnitude hit Korumburra and spread more than 200km across the state.
“While activity like this is unusual, it has been known to occur in other locations,” Dr Spiro Spiliopoulos from Geoscience Australia said.
“This type of event, called an intraplate earthquake, happens because of the build-up of stress in the Earth’s crust, which is caused by the movement of the tectonic plates. This is part of the earth’s natural dynamic processes.”
Dr Spiliopoulos said earthquakes of this magnitude typically occurred in Victoria every two or three years.
He said there was no way of telling whether another quake would hit Korumburra in coming weeks. Geoscience Australia is currently monitoring seismic activity in the area.
