An Australian geologist has warned a region hit by a 4.8 magnitude earthquake over the weekend could experience more tremors in the coming days.
Geoscience Australia recorded a magnitude 4.8 tremor just after 2am on Saturday, with an epicentre 6km north-east of the Gippsland town of Korumburra.
It was one of the strongest earthquakes the region has reported in two decades.
Dr Dee Ninis from Monash University on Saturday explained that the event changed where ‘stress’ accumulated in the Earth’s crust.
That could result in several more shakes in the next days or weeks, as the ground readjusts.
‘Aftershocks associated with this morning’s earthquake are expected to continue over the next few days to weeks,’ Dr Ninis told 7News.
‘Generally, these earthquakes will become smaller and less frequent with time.
‘However, as with all aftershock sequences, there is a chance that an earthquake of similar magnitude or larger may occur.’
Dr Dee Ninis (above), a geologist from Monash University, explained more earthquake could occur after a large quake near Korumburra on Saturday morning
The 4.8 tremor hit just after 2am on Saturday, with an epicentre (above) 6km north-east of the Gippsland town of Korumburra
More than 100 aftershocks have been recorded from the initial event, which was strong enough to shake some residents awake.
‘The windows shook and the whole house creaked. I couldn’t sleep after that one. Scary, scary,’ Caulfield South resident Jane Barnes told The Age.
Another resident, Michelle Wade, said she woke up to her apartment in Armadale shaking.
‘I could hear things falling down and hitting the apartment floor above me,’ she said.
‘It’s not something you expect when you’re sleeping. It definitely took me a while to settle my nerves.’
Geoscience Australia had received more than 16,000 reports from people who felt the quake by 3am.
More than 21,000 eventually reported feeling the tremor, including in Melbourne about 120km from the epicentre.
The initial earthquake hit at a depth of 10km.
Dr Ninis warned Korumburra (above) and the surrounding area could see more activity as the earth adjusts to new stress points caused by the earthquake
If caught in an earthquake, Victoria SES advises to drop, cover and hold on.
‘Drop to the ground, take cover by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture, and hold on (to your cover) until the shaking stops,’ it states.
Those in wheelchairs should lock their brakes in place.
The Gippsland region experienced similar earthquakes in 2009, a magnitude 4.7 quake, and in 2011, a magnitude 4.4 quake.
However, elsewhere in Victoria has seen strong earthquakes more recently.
A 5.0 magnitude earthquake hit near the Great Ocean Road, south-west of Melbourne, in October 2023.
Woods Point, 178km northwest of Melbourne, saw an even stronger shake in September 2021 at magnitude 5.9.