The state of Victoria, located on the east coast of Australia, was hit by an earthquake. The region’s emergency service said the 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday morning (local time) in Mansfield, 200 km northeast of the megacity of Melbourne. The earthquake was also felt in the capital Canberra and in Sydney in the neighboring state of New South Wales. The National Weather Service did not issue a tsunami warning.
New Zealand’s GeoNet has declared it the strongest earthquake to hit mainland Australia since 1997. Unlike neighboring New Zealand, earthquakes are very rare in Australia. According to the United States Geological Service (USGS), this was only the eighth earthquake in the region with a magnitude greater than 5.0 since 1973.
Local media reported that buildings shook and objects fell from shelves. “There are currently no reports of serious injuries or worse, and this is very good news,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. Initially, no major damage was reported either.
But on a Melbourne street, some house facades are said to have been affected. A Melbourne journalist tweeted a photo of several bricks smashed on the floor. (apa,, dpa)
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