Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Melbourne, Australia
Hong Kong (CNN)An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck near Melbourne in southern Australia on Wednesday, according to the Victoria State Emergency Service’s (VICSES News) Twitter account.
“A magnitude 6.0 Earthquake has occurred with an epicentre near Mansfield in Victoria,” the tweet from VICSES News read, calling on citizens to “please be patient as lines may be busy.”
Videos on social media showed at least one building suffered some minor damage and power lines disrupted in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, where some people could be seen on the streets following the quake.
Melbourne residents described their shock and surprise as houses across the city began to shake, in a city which has not had an earthquake of a similar size in decades. There have been no reports of injuries so far.
The temblor was so strong it was felt as far away as Adelaide in South Australia, 800 kilometers (500 miles) away, and Sydney in New South Wales, more than 900 kilometers (600 miles) away.
“There is no tsunami threat” VICSES News said in a follow up tweet. Geoscience Australia said there was an aftershock following the earthquake measuring about 4.0 in magnitude, less than half an hour after the initial shock.
Australia sits in the center of a tectonic plate and as a result very rarely experiences serious earthquake activity, unlike neighboring New Zealand.
The country’s worst earthquake ever was in 1988 in the Northern Territory, which measured only 6.6 magnitude, according to Geoscience Australia.
The Melbourne earthquake comes after a day of heated protests in the city over strict months-long lockdowns which have been put in place to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant.
Demonstrators blocked off major roads and lit flares amid clashes with police, in some of the worst violent protests seen in the city in years.
To date, Victoria has recorded a total number of 30,224 confirmed Covid cases, and more than 830 deaths.
Reuters contributed to the report
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/UmZHmSo-74o/index.html
