An earthquake rocks Melbourne Australia

March 6th, 2009 - 5:24 pm ICT by admin ( 63 comments )

An earthquake of unknown magnitude hits Australia, it was reportedly felt for 15 to 20 seconds in Melbourne.

The quake occurred at approximately around 9pm Friday March 6th (10:00am UTC). Reportedly, the tremours were felt as far as Mooroopna Victoria, 200km from Melbourne.

Many people felt their homes shaking and could be seen out on the streets. So far their has not been any reports of injuries or casualties.

At the time of writing the Earthquake News page of the Seismology Research Centre of Australia was offline : http://www.seis.com.au/EQ/Earthquakes.html

We are waiting for further details about the Melbourne Quake. In the meantime do share your experiences via the comments form below.

Updated information from USGS

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Posted in Environment |

63 Responses

  1. Marcellus Says:

    There was tremor for 2 minutes and then nothing - Vermont South, Victoria, Australia

  2. Marcellus Says:

    Please read that as few seconds…

  3. nw Says:

    Yeah nice big rumble and plenty of shaking. Could hear the whole house grinding. Biggest I’ve felt. Could feel it through my chair

  4. Chris Says:

    Earthquake hit at approximately 8:56PM local time. That is night time, not in the morning. (09:56AM UTC)

    Please correct your article.

  5. faye Says:

    i felt it! it was bizzare, for about 10 secs or so.. i thought my dad was just re-arranging the furniture in the next room but then i heard the dog barking and the framed photo leaning against my wall fell down… that’s when i knew it was an earthquake! wow!

  6. Student Says:

    I live in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne and definitely felt the quake. I heard a large rumble at first then the house started making noises whilst a small tremour rumbled the ground.

    It’s quite rare here.

    Typical that the SEIS webpage is down.

  7. Chris MS Says:

    We are in Aspendale Gardens, VIC, just north of the Mornington Penninsula, 30 km south of Melbourne, and felt the house shake.. At 9PM though, not 9AM. We also have reports from friends in Tecoma about their experience.

  8. Random Says:

    IT IS 9PM…not 9AM

  9. caron Says:

    we felt a pretty strong earthquake in Hastings VIC at about 9-00pm

  10. Skull Says:

    Yep - felt this thing in Longwarry North. Thought the building had been hit by a car! Scary stuff. First the bush fires - now earthquakes???

  11. penny elliott Says:

    We felt there was an earthquake near western suburb around 21:10 on 6th March 2009.
    Do anyone know how to find out more information?

  12. John Thurbon Says:

    Felt whole house shake quite vigorously and loud noise in Endeavour Hills, very scary…

  13. sam Says:

    Malvern area, a small quake, lasted for 2-3 seconds. was not very strong.

  14. John Says:

    Yeap, house creeked, and rumbled.. thought someone was running on my roof..

  15. Katie Says:

    Earthquake Details
    Magnitude 4.7
    Date-Time Friday, March 06, 2009 at 09:55:38 UTC
    Friday, March 06, 2009 at 08:55:38 PM at epicenter

    Location 38.377°S, 145.714°E
    Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
    Region NEAR THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF AUSTRALIA
    Distances 96 km (59 miles) SE (137°) from Melbourne, Australia
    458 km (284 miles) SW (221°) from CANBERRA, Australia

    Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 15.7 km (9.8 miles); depth fixed by location program
    Parameters NST= 9, Nph= 9, Dmin=448.6 km, Rmss=1.09 sec, Gp=137°,
    M-type=body magnitude (Mb), Version=6
    Source U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:
    World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

    Event ID us2009dwau

  16. AKS Says:

    House (Wantirna South) was shaking - knew was earthquake straight away….no semi-trailers on my street.

  17. Katie Says:

    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009dwau.php

  18. faye Says:

    yes i live in the keilor area! it is a bit annoying that the seismology website is down.. but mum said that it’s already in the news now and apparently it was 4.7 and point was in warnambool

  19. Nicole Says:

    I heard a loud noise at first and around 3 seconds later the house shook for around 6-10 seconds. rather scary!

  20. andrew Says:

    felt the tremor quite strong, lasted about 3 seconds, and 3 things fell off shelves. whole house seemed to shift momentarily. live in beaumaris.

  21. caron Says:

    you can go to http://www.seis.com.au for info’ but hard to get onto site at the moment

  22. thomas Says:

    i felt it and ran outside but left door open then my dog ran away down the street barking, now i lost a dog and my milk spilt over….

  23. George Says:

    just like to say it was felt in Warragul before some parts in Melbourne ( I was talking to someone in Melbourne and I felt the earthquake and told them then a few minutes later they felt it)

  24. Edwin Says:

    I felt the earth quake in melbourne west FOOtscray about 9 pm. Lasted for about 20 seconds. It was buy far the largest earth quake I had felt in Australia

  25. thomas Says:

    gay, my bottles of wine in the cupboard fell out and smashed, stupid earthquake, make me a lose a dog and milk and wine when i came back in

  26. Hardy Says:

    Official sources have indicated that the eartquake had a magnitude of 4.7 and the official time of the earthquake began at Friday, March 06, 2009 at 08:55:38 PM, with a 10km range.

  27. jamie Says:

    My computer desk shook and it sounded like a huge gust of wind.

  28. thomas Says:

    i think it was caused because some fat guy in my class tripped

  29. Linda Says:

    I felt it here in Kyneton, my hubby told me I was being ‘over tired and over sensitive’… that’ll learn him!

  30. Tim Says:

    Yes what a sureal experience…went for about 5-7 seconds here in Doncaster, had a consistant intensity for the whole duration. Obviously diff home constructions would deliver diff sensations. Hope everyone is safe and no damage.

  31. Rod Says:

    http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/earthquake.pl?title=N+of+Korumburra+Vic&magnitude=4.6&depth=8&xy=145.790,-38.390&date=06,03,2009&time=09,55,37&bg1=eqrisk_lm&zoom=250&station=TOO

    Apparently epicentre was Kurrumburra according to Australian Govt website.

  32. thomas Says:

    my fat friend fell down then

  33. Mani Narayana Aluri Says:

    We live in Mulgrave. We around 9.00pm felt lot of shaking and vibrations of the house suddenly. There was mirror which was stuck to the wall suddenly started moving and my duaghter suddenly got up as her cot on which she was sitting started shaking. Though it was for few seconds, it is scary feeling to feel those vibrations.

  34. Steven Says:

    Felt it at about 9pm in Greensborough, knew it was an earthquake… been in a few in NZ but never felt one in Auz.. quite wierd?? There are usually more and we could get bigger aftershocks!?

  35. HDC Says:

    Chris, article has correct time..

  36. HDC Says:

    Also, my father felt it in Apollo Bay which is 3 hrs from Melbourne.

  37. Victorian Bushfire Forum Says:

    We felt it in Beaconsfield.

    I’ve never felt one like that before.

    That’s all we need here in Victoria after the bushfires.

    Brett.
    http://www.squidoo.com/EarthquakeInMelbourne

  38. ELEANORE! Says:

    Yeh i live in stKILDA and we felt it here too.

    It was probbly the Selwyn Fault that runs through Port Phillip Bay.

    :)

  39. jesse Says:

    yea i live in ferntree gully house started shaking…

  40. Nicole Says:

    im sorry thomas, but i think you had better be a little less insensitive towards this matter! and please stop using the terms “gay” and “fat” in the way you are as people may become offended.

  41. Mark Says:

    I’m in Ferntree Gully!
    Oh my GOD!
    My home was making thunder sounds because my walls shook!

    for 5 seconds my loungeroom floor shook sideways!!
    creepy Australia!!

    this never happened to mein my life!! aren’t we on a safe place on Earth?

  42. worldwidebounty Says:

    It was huge here in Dandenong shook a picture frame off the wall and car alarm went off

  43. Damien Says:

    This was the biggest ive felt and i have been living in Melbourne for over 35 years, kind of strange if you havnt felt one before, i just put my self to bed and as i dont use electric blankets i was moving up and down till i got warm, when i stopped the bed was still shaking, i thought was this me or something else, I thought it was a large earth tremor, stay cool Dames.

  44. Peter Says:

    Nothing much to report other than a rumbling through the floor and my desk lamp shaking.

  45. ervan Says:

    i felt a big one in Dandenong back in the late 80’s. Anyway heard the rumble and felt the shake.

  46. hayley Says:

    i felt the quake bout 9pm i was in the lounge room watchn tv and i thought my hubby was shaking the couch joking around but he was asleep so it was the quake got scared ran next to my hubby

  47. Kusal Says:

    Felt vibrations in the house in Waverly Park Mulgrave, checked for any burglars only to know later about the earthquake

  48. Erica Says:

    Hi, from the epicentre, here in Korumburra! Shook us up for a few seconds and then the power went off! Walked outside and heard other people talking in the dark but all seemed okay. The cat didn’t seem too fussed. Power came back on after a few minutes. Not a very pleasant experience, as was the strongest I’ve ever felt, from memory. Nothing fell or broke. Really didn’t notice much shaking of anything in the house. Just this incredible rumble!

  49. Dot Says:

    felt the house shake, and a rumble, frightened the sleeping dog on my bed,
    Werribee

  50. Epping Resident Says:

    Weird… Apparently the quake was felt in Lalor, only two minutes from Epping, yet I did’nt feel nor hear a thing until I heard about it on the news..

  51. Bec Says:

    Scoresby, felt it for about 3sec….amazing then about 3 in later felt a very small rumble again….cats ran out of the house ….I just had another glass of wine……if your gonna go…..go happy!

  52. Dee Tullamarine Melbourne Says:

    Fix your article it happend at 9PM not 9AM.

  53. megan Says:

    the stuff on the bench was shaking and the door was slaming ,
    it really got me scared i didnt actaully no it was a earth quake until my friends had told me .

  54. Josh Says:

    From what I can tell no one was injured, so lets all be grateful for that. Living in California though, I have to laugh a little at how some of you have reacted to this event. hehe. We have earthquakes like that all the time, I don’t even get out of bed anymore. Just go with the flow :).

    Cheers aussies

  55. Josh Says:

    oh, rite…the noise of it is something unsettling to be sure. It is a very distinct noise that you only have to hear once, its as if the earth is moaning as it stretches. surreal to say the least.

  56. Chelsea Says:

    Was sitting on my bed and heard a rumbling sound, then my walls and windows shook and my whole bed was rocking.
    Quite a surprise.

    Knox region.

  57. Rob Says:

    Dee in Tullamarine, it DOES say 9pm….? (10am UTC time)

  58. Dee Tullamarine Says:

    Rob,
    They have changed it, when this article first came out it DID have 9am.

  59. Dee Tullamarine Says:

    Rob,
    Just to add, if you bothered to read the initial comments you would see that people have requested the publisher to change the time to pm instead of am. Go back and read.

  60. Simon Says:

    I was driving up Springvale Road toward Glen Waverly. I had stopped for a red light. And the car shook a little for a few seconds. I thought something must have been wrong with it but that really made no sense as had only just been serviced and drove fine from then on. Then when got to meet my friend I was told and it was surprising but made sense.

  61. craig Says:

    small rumble 4.30 18 march in knox melbourne

  62. jamie Says:

    Felt in hillside

  63. huyyie Says:

    loser yall all suck

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