Victoria is rocked by 3.1 magnitude earthquake that jolted country towns

Victoria has been shaken by another earthquake months after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake damaged Melbourne.

On Saturday around 9.45pm a 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit regional Victoria with an epicentre near Leongatha, 136 km southeast of Melbourne, at a depth of 0.37 km.

Over a hundred people reported feeling the earthquake to Geoscience Australia, including several in Melbourne.

Many said the quake jolted them awake in their beds, and they felt like their homes moved.

‘Initially it felt as if something big had bumped into the house. A few seconds later there was a bigger bump and items on the shelf rattled,’ one said. 

‘Felt like a bang on outside wall and then vibration on wall and underneath bed. Thought could be a stump under house collapsing,’ another local in Korumburra said. 

The quake was weaker than a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that destroyed several buildings in Melbourne in September, 2021.

The earthquake was one of the largest to hit Australia in decades and was followed by two 4.0 and 3.1 magnitude aftershocks 18 and 39 minutes later.

Senior seismologist Hugh Glanville from Geoscience Australia said the area around Leongatha was prone to small earthquakes.

‘The zone around Leongatha has a higher seismic hazard than other parts of Victoria. Over the last ten years they’ve had around 100 earthquakes within 100km, averaging around 10 earthquakes a year,’ he said.

‘Most of them are quite small but there have been large ones. In 2012 there was a magnitude 5.4 earthquake near Moe and in 2009 there were two magnitude 4.6s nearby.’

Mr Glanville said the biggest concentration of seismic activity in Victoria was in the alps bordering NSW but the activity flowed down to the Leongatha region.