Boolarra residents were shaken from their beds yesterday morning as a 3.5 magnitude earthquake struck the town.
Geoscience Australia reported the quake, with a depth of 10 kilometres, could be felt by people up to 50-kilometres away, with reports of rumbles in Warragul and Wilsons Promontory.
Its senior seismologist, Hugh Glanville, told The Express yesterday’s quake was one of Gippsland’s largest, but was nothing “out of the ordinary”.
“There have been nine earthquakes in the region in the past year. They happen reasonably regularly (in Gippsland), approximately once a month,” Mr Glanville said.
He said Gippsland was the state’s most “active” area for quakes due to its geology.
The region’s largest quake in recent times was a 5.4 magnitude tremour in Moe, 2012.
There have been no reports of damage or injury in relation to yesterday’s event.
Forest Fire Management Victoria officers patrolled public land areas across the Gippsland region across the Australia Day weekend and discovered many people were managing their campfires responsibly.
“Unfortunately there are always some people who do the wrong thing, and we were concerned to find a large number of unattended campfires, and campfires that had been left without being fully extinguished,” FFMVic Assistant Chief Fire Officer Chris Stephenson said.
“An unattended campfire at Jack Smith Lake, north of Woodside Beach caused a fire that burnt half a hectare of grass and scrub before it was contained by FFMVic and CFA crews.”
If you see something, say something and report irresponsible or illegal behaviour at campsites to the Department of Environment, Land and Water on 136 186 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
