A small number of residents have reported being woken by their houses shaking as two minor earthquakes hit regional Victoria overnight.
A 2.6 magnitude tremor was recorded near Lake Eildon, north east of Melbourne, about 3.50am and was felt by four people.
A second 2.9 magnitude shock followed at 4.17am, with 23 people recording they had felt it, according to Geoscience Australia.
Locals took to the Lake Eildon Info Facebook group to discuss the tremors on Saturday morning, with several saying they were woken by their house shaking.
“Shook the house and woke me and the cat up. Thought it was an explosion,” one man reported.
“That’s what woke me. I thought an animal had hit the house,” another woman responded.
“Our caravan shook. It woke me up, then a mouse ran past me in the kitchen, guess he felt it too,” a third said.
Another added: “Woke me up and the neighbour’s dog barked”.
One local said they heard a sound like thunder while another had “wondered what the hell was going on”.
Another person posted: “I thought I’d lost the plot. I was half awake and thought it was an explosion”.
Seismology Research Centre chief scientist Adam Pascale said earthquakes of this magnitude would be expected to be felt over a 20 to 30 km radius.
“These ones are relatively shallow earthquakes, they’re only a few kilometres deep,” Mr Pascale told NCA newswire.
“If you think about a normal quarry blast, it’s equivalent to a magnitude one earthquake … this is between 50 and 100 times bigger, so it’s not surprising it sounded like an explosion.”
Mr Pascale said while the quakes were small, they were likely to be felt given they were close to populated areas.
The 5.9 magnitude earthquake that shook Victoria on September 22 last year – the largest in the state’s recorded history – was nearby at Woods Point, but not on the same fault.
It’s likely the seismic activity from that larger earthquake has contributed to a change in the stressfield in the area, Mr Pascale said.
“Any faults that were close to breaking might have been pushed along a little bit quicker. That possibly one of the mechanisms for triggering an earthquake in that area,” he added.
“Anywhere where there’s mountains, that probably has been created by earthquakes over millions of years, you’re likely to have earthquakes so it’s not a huge surprise for that area.”
Mr Pacale said there were continuing to be aftershocks from the Wood Point earthquake, with more than 1000 recorded so far.
Earthquakes occur when tectonic plates under the earth’s surface move into one another.
The sudden release of stress that slowly builds up from that movement causes thxjmtzywe tremors.
According to Geoscience Australia, Australia is one of the safest places to live in relation to earthquakes because it is away from tectonic plate boundaries where large earthquakes occur more frequently.
Lake Eildon is about 235 km northeast of Melbourne.
It was only six days ago that a 3.8 magnitude earthquake hit Adelaide, with many residents waking up last Sunday morning feeling their walls shake.
The tremor hit at about 7.20am in Mount Barker, 33 km southeast of the capital city, but was reportedly felt up to 100 km away from the centre.
