Melbourne Hit By Second Tremor

This time around we did not feel any tremor at our suburb. But my brother who was working in the city felt his office desk moved. My dad who lives 6km from the city felt his bed moved.

Melbourne hit by tremor

• Mex Cooper, Paul Millar
• March 18, 2009 - 7:18PM

A second 4.6 earthquake has hit Korumburra, shaking buildings and homes across Melbourne and leaving scientists at a loss to explain why the town has been struck twice in two weeks.

Today's quake struck at 4.28pm, five kilometres north-west of Korumburra, 90 kilometres south-east of Melbourne and at the same spot where a 4.6 magnitude quake occurred on March 6.

More quakes could follow: expert

Seismologist Gary Gibson speaks to 3AW radio's Derryn Hinch.

Geoscience Australia seismologist Spiro Spiliopoulos said science could not predict if another quake would jolt the town nestled in the hills of the Strzelecki Ranges.

Dr Spiliopoulos said the epicentre was estimated to be about 10 kilometres underground and the quake was caused by stresses in the Australian tectonic plate.

"The stresses are due to the Australian plate moving northward ... but being able to say why earthquakes occur on this particular spot, our science is not good enough yet to say why,'' he said.

"All we know is we have an active fault there and quakes are occurring.''

Dr Spiliopoulos said it was unusual but not unheard of for a quake to hit the same place twice within such a short time.

The quake was felt up to 200 kilometres away from Korumburra but there were no immediate of reports of damage.

People reported feeling today's quake in the CBD, Box Hill, Footscray, Heathmont, Warrandyte, Glen Waverley, Emerald, Port Melbourne, St Kilda, Warragul and Phillip Island.

Rachel Waycott was working in the Austral Hotel in Korumburra when the town was rocked again.

She said about 15 patrons in the pub looked at each other and expected the worst as the two-storey building began to move.

"It was as bad as the last one,'' she said. ``I was sitting in the bar and serving and the whole pub shook. I was ready to run out as you hear things about whether the next one could be a big one.''

Ms Waycott said the earthquake on March 6 had been the talk of Korumburra and locals feared it was leading to a second larger quake.

"I have felt aftershocks over the last couple of weeks ... some people haven't felt them but one was in the middle of the night and was strong enough to shake my whole house and wake me up.''

Four aftershocks of magnitude 3 or above have been recorded in Korumburra since March 6 and Dr Spiliopoulos said there would have been hundreds more not strong enough to have been felt.

Ms Waycott said this afternoon's quake lasted up to 10 seconds and was followed by a 10-minute blackout in the town.

"It was like a rumble as if a truck or something had hit the pub and you could see the building shaking,'' she said.

Grahame Brown, owner manager of the Korumburra Tourist Park, was in the shower when the quake rolled through his property on the outskirts of town.

"It felt like an explosion in the quarry, the whole house shook back and forwards a few times,'' Mr Brown said.

"You could feel the whole house moving and then the power went off for five to 10 minutes, but we've had four or five of these since January, so I suppose we're getting used to it by now.''

He said there was no damage other than photographs on the walls moving to a tilt.

Teacher Ross Besley had been at a meeting at the local primary school in the town's centre.

"The whole room started to shake, and it gave us a shake, the whole street was talking about it,'' he said.

Dr Craig Gedye was at the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg when he felt the room shaking.

"I felt five seconds of light shaking and then one long thump about 4.30pm,'' he said.

He said he heard wood creaking but did not believe the tremor was strong enough to have caused damage.

"It's just another little tremor like we felt the other week,'' he said.

Narre Warren resident Ginnie Giles said her entire house shook about 4.30pm.

"It was the same as the other night when it happened,'' she said.

"It was for maybe three or four seconds but it felt longer than that. Our cat was lying down and he looked around as if to say 'what was that?'.''

Charles Envall, of Korumburra, was having a relaxing afternoon reading when the tremor hit and the power went off temporarily.

"A loud, rumbling noise went for about two or three seconds, it didn't seem to be as much vibration as the last one which shook the armchairs around a bit,'' Mr Envall said.

Anderson's Creek Primary School teacher Leah Canale was in a portable classroom in Warrandyte when the tremor struck.

"I was sitting in my classroom and all of a sudden the filing cabinet and desk started shaking, windows started shaking,'' she said.

"I thought 'Am I going crazy or is that another earthquake?'''

Ms Canale said she was thankful her grade 5 students had already left for the day as they would have "gone crazy''.

"I live in Kew and during the last one I was sitting on the couch and fell off. This time I was standing upright but it felt about equally as strong,'' she said.

The two Korumburra quakes are the largest recorded in Melbourne since 1973.

State Emergency Service spokesman Alan Briggs said while there had been no reports of any damage, anyone facing any problems should turn off all gas, electricity and water and call emergency services.

Dr Spiliopoulos said Geoscience Australia would continue to monitor any aftershocks in Korumburra and if a quake struck people should seek shelter either outdoors or under the most solid part of a building.

"The thing that kills during earthquakes is things falling on top of people or building collapsing. The best thing to do is stay away from eaves, if you are out in the open you are safe, if you are in a building, get under a door jam or under a table,'' he said.

With Larissa Ham