TOM HAYES
By TOM HAYES
A MAGNITUDE-4.6 earthquake was recorded overnight (June 30) in the High Country of Rawson.
Thousands of nearby residents reported light-to-moderate shaking of the earthquake, that occurred at around 1.30am.
Seismologists believe the tremor could be a sequence of earthquakes recorded as far as South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania, dating back to 2021.
“This event that occurred early this morning is part of that sequence that started in September 2021 with that magnitude-5.9 and we’ve recorded at least 47 earthquakes now between magnitude-two and this 4.6,” Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate told the ABC.
“This is the largest aftershock that we’ve had since the main shock main in September 2021.”
ABC callers from Walhalla (roughly 10 kilometres away from event) and as far as Healesville (120 kilometres away) called into radio to report about the shake, after being woken by the shaking sensation.
The earthquake is reported to be a part of normal seismic activity, with exports believing that that 2021 quake is producing it’s own sequence of tremors.
“It is a larger event so we would expect aftershocks,” Seismology Research Centre hazard seismologist Elodie Borleis told the ABC.
“This is very normal. Yes, we’ve had an increase in the last, you know, couple of years of people actually feeling them (earthquakes) but the actually background seismicity hasn’t changed at all.
“If you look at it, over the last 100 years, it is quite normal seismic activity.”
