Victoria earthquake tremors rattle Tasmania
A 5.9 MAGNITUDE earthquake that hit Melbourne has shaken workers in Tasmania, with an office block evacuated after tremors were felt on the fourth floor.
There were reports of tremors in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport – as well as Canberra, Sydney and even South Australia after the earthquake hit just after 9.15am.
The Betty’s Burgers building in South Yarra suffered extensive damage in the quake, with bricks from the second floor of the building strewn across the road.
There are no reports of injury from the earthquake that Geoscience Australia classified as a 5.9 magnitude quake centred at Mansfield, 120km northeast of Melbourne, at a depth of 10km. Eighteen minutes later, a second quake of magnitude 5.5 was reported northwest of the initial quake.
Melissa Green who works at Whitemark supermarket on Flinders Island said she was working on the computer when she felt things move and suddenly felt nauseous.
“A colleague was standing next to me and we said ‘are we moving’?” Ms Green said.
“We looked out the window and saw a stack of pallets moving and the shelf and plant were swaying. It was a bizarre feeling.
“It only lasted about 20-30 seconds but it felt really strange.”
Steve was working in central Launceston and said he could feel the building shaking.
“We are on level four, you could feel it shaking around,” he said.
“I was on the phone with someone from Victoria and they said they thought there had been an earthquake.
“A minute later we had the same thing here. You looked outside could see things shaking.”
The tremor was also felt by residents on Flinders Island, including an office worker.
“We felt a rumble and everything moved,” she said. “It was really weird. It made you feel a bit sick in the stomach actually.”