Just (ca 20:50/8.50 pm) experienced my first earthquake (South-eastern suburbs) -- or rather earth tremor. Rattling doors, a bit of noise, a bit of shaking. Felt like about 10-15 s. More exciting than scary, although I would NOT have wanted to be any closer to the epicentre than we already were (100 km).
Funny it should happen in Australia after five years in California without the slightest tremor.
I like the possum comment below -- was my first thought too! The second one was wind.
If you felt it, you can report it here http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000ajek#dyfi
There is a point in reporting your experience, since earthquakes aren't just reported in terms of the energy released, but also in terms of damage (or perception).
Update 22:02: http://www.seis.com.au/ is slowly coming back online, but there's no obvious information up yet.
http://www.seis.com.au/ and http://www.ga.gov.au/earthquakes/ went down immediately, and the ga.gov.au site is still down. www.seis.com.au is operating slowly.
Update 21:52. ABC 24 is covering it right now. Quake happened 7 minutes to 9 with the epicentre over by Trafalgar near Moe. No serious injuries. Upgraded to M 5.5.
Update 21:30
The news sites are catching up:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-19/magnitude-52-quake-shakes-southern-vic/4080446
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/melbourne-hit-by-earthquake-20120619-20m8d.html
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/strong-tremors-rock-victoria/story-fn7x8me2-1226401623358
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/quake-shakes-melbourne-20120619-20m88.html
Update 21.27: ABC 24 just confirmed it. M 5.2. Moe was the epicentre.
Update 21.10: It's on the USGS website: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000ajek#summary
Apparently it was a Magnitude 5.2 centerd somewhere out in Gippsland. Best guess at time is 20:53:29.
The magnitude will likely be adjusted once local data is available.
Postscript:
I posted since the seismology sites were down and there was nothing on the news. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was looking for information:
Another California girl in Melbourne thinking the same thing! I have felt plenty of tremors in my life and remember all the school drills growing up but just didn't expect it here!
ReplyDeleteI live in Castlemaine, near Bendigo and just felt it. Soooo cool.
ReplyDeleteLOL I was scared!!
Deletefelt it in bendigo as well
ReplyDeleteI felt it too! I was studying on the floor and all of a sudden the closet started to shake, I thought-it must be a possum. But no-the whole room was vibrating. The second thing my mind jumped to was-EARTHQUAKE!!! Do you know what it was on the richter scale??
ReplyDeleteapparently it was 5.2 magnitude
DeleteI live in north melbourne...felt it too...
ReplyDeleteWe are in Hampton Bayside and the whole house shook for about 10 seconds,
ReplyDeleteMy friends dog started barking..a bit scary..
agreed!
DeleteFelt in geelong!
ReplyDeletePatterson Lakes felt it good especially in an apartment
ReplyDeleteCoburg houses started shaking too. We couldn't believe it was a tremor until it lasted for more than 5 seconds. It was more than 5 Richter in scale.
ReplyDeleteI live in the city and OMG to be honest it was actually scary but pretty cool at the same time. We will all have something to talk about tomoz.
ReplyDeleteMy little dog started to bark. I think she was a bit scared.
DeleteDios los proteja a todos.
ReplyDeleteMy children came out of the house to where I was sitting in the garage to tell me they felt the house shaking about half an hour ago, we live in Bacchus Marsh Victoria.
ReplyDeleteHad it shake for a few seconds in Melton
ReplyDeleteLinux should have predicted this...:P
ReplyDeleteI live in Ringwood and felt it too. Very scary particularly as I come from Christchurch. I thought, Oh no, here we go again!!
ReplyDeleteMy friends windows on her house broke and all the picture frames on the wall came off! Scary!
ReplyDeleteGot it in St Kilda rattling doors and windows
ReplyDeleteI felt it too at 8:54pm in Elsternwick My daughter called and she also felt it and said friends as far as Emerald also felt it It's not a very rare occurrence in Melbourne I've experienced 6 in my lifetime I hope there's no stronger after shocks!
ReplyDeleteIt's IK je varken... will be right there I don't want anyone else too rock your world but me ! grrrrr
DeleteAnd even i felt it all accross the other side of the planet when my girlfriend in Melbourne told me the house was shaking!
ReplyDeletewho could that be???? (R)
DeleteI was sitting in bed and I felt this weird shaking sensation,AN EARTHQUAKE! I probably should have dived for cover instead I just sat there in awe!
ReplyDeleteLive in sunbury felt nothing at all
ReplyDeleteThe whole house felt like it was rocking back and forth and all blinds were banging on the windows. Was a very scary 15seconds. Turns out our house is only 20km from the epicenter.
ReplyDelete