Vic: Metro Melbourne rocked by magnitude 4.6 tremor
06 Mar 2009 9:53 PM
MELBOURNE, March 6 AAP - An earth tremor measuring magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale has rocked metropolitan Melbourne.
Worried householders from Reservoir, in the city's north, to Kew and Cheltenham, southeast of Melbourne, said they felt the tremor - which lasted a few seconds - shortly before 9pm (AEDT) on Friday.
Phil Cummins, duty seismologist at Geoscience Australia, which monitors earthquake activity, said the tremor measured 4.6 but the epicentre had not yet been pinpointed.
"It was certainly a moderate earthquake that was likely to be felt across a wide area but is unlikely to have caused any damage, except possibly some minor damage near the epicentre," Mr Cummins said.
Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) spokesman Allen Briggs said the service had been inundated with phone calls from the public but there had been no reports of any damage immediately after the tremor.
"It was certainly enough to rattle windows and we've had reports it was felt in metropolitan Melbourne and as far down as Warragul and Leongatha in Gippsland," Mr Briggs said.
A spokeswoman for Victoria Police said the incident had also been reported to the police but she advised members of the public to only dial triple-0 in an emergency situation.
Further information was being sought from Geoscience Australia.
