Sydney, Sept. 22 (BNA): An earthquake reportedly hit the Australian state of Victoria on Wednesday morning, shaking residents across the southeast.
The German news agency DPA reported that the 6.0-magnitude earthquake occurred near Mansfield, about 200 kilometers northeast of Melbourne.
The service said there were widespread reports of quakes and aftershocks being felt.
The state earthquake reporting agency Geoscience Australia reported that the first quake with a magnitude of 6.0 occurred at 23:15 GMT, followed by a magnitude of 4.0 about 15 minutes later.
The US Geological Service recorded the first earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 and said this was only the eighth with a magnitude of 5 in the region since 1973.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said there was no danger of a tsunami.
The earthquake was reported to be felt in Melbourne and the national capital Canberra as well as in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales.
Local and social media users mainly reported feeling the shaking of buildings and objects falling from tables and shelves.
New South Wales Fire and Rescue Services said they had sent crews in after reports of tremors being felt across the state, but no structural damage had been reported so far.
Several local news reporters tweeted videos and photos of damage to buildings in Melbourne, and ABC posted a video of tremors during its breakfast news show that caused an obvious shaking.
The footage shows broadcaster Michael Rowland stopping mid-sentence before saying “it was big” and advising staff to leave the building.
It was the largest earthquake on Earth in Australia since 1997, according to New Zealand-based GeoNet. The monitoring service added that earthquakes are relatively uncommon in Australia, unlike neighboring New Zealand.
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