A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Melbourne in Australia on Wednesday, Geoscience Australia said, causing damage to buildings in the country’s second largest city and tremors across neighboring states.
The epicenter of the quake was near the rural town of Mansfield in the state of Victoria, about 200 km northeast of Melbourne and at a depth of 10 km.
Radio station 3AW posted a photo of debris on one of Melbourne’s main streets, which it attributed to the quake, and people in northern parts of the city said on social media they had lost power, while others said that they were evicted from the buildings.
The quake was felt as far away as the city of Adelaide, 800 km to the west in the state of South Australia, and 900 km north of Sydney, the state of New South Wales, although there were no reports of damage and no reports outside Melbourne. of injuries.
Australia’s population of more than 25 million lives in the south-east of the country from Adelaide to Melbourne to Sydney.
The mayor of Mansfield, Mark Holcombe, said he was in his home office on his farm when the earthquake struck and ran outside to safety.
“I’ve been in earthquakes overseas before and they feel like I’ve experienced them for longer than I ever have,” Holcombe told ABC. “The other thing that shocked me was how noisy it was. It was a real rumble like a big truck going past.”
They said they did not experience any serious damage near the epicenter of the quake, although some residents reported problems with telecommunications.
The country’s Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement that no tsunami threat has been issued to the Australian mainland, islands or regions.
The earthquake presented a potential disruption to the expected anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne on Wednesday, which will be the third day of unrest that has reached increasing levels of violence and police response.
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