During February, Australia has seen mass flooding in Queensland as well as the bushfires in Victoria. And now, an earthquake outside of Melbourne that measured 4.6 on the Richter Scale.
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[b]Melbourne escapes unscathed after earthquake[/b]
[i]ABC - March 7, 2009, 5:16 am[/i]
Victoria's east has been rocked by an earth tremor, with residents reporting Melbourne buildings shaking across the metropolitan area.
Geoscience Australia, which monitors earthquake activity, said the tremor measured magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale , with the epicentre at Korumburra, about 90 kilometres south-east of Melbourne .
The quake happened just before 9:00pm AEDT, and while there were no reports of injury, 000, media outlets and the Bureau of Meteorology were flooded with calls from people wanting to know what had happened.
John Schneider, from Geoscience Australia, says the the region has not seen an earthquake of that magnitude in over a decade.
"The last earthquake of any significant size in that area was the magnitude 5 earthquake at Thomson Reservoir in 1996," he said.
Terry Ryan from the Bureau of Meteorology says the quake was felt far from its epicentre.
"Mainly out to the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and places like Pakenham, Wonthaggi, towards Phillip Island ... have reported more sort of movement than the west," he said.
Allan Griggs, from the State Emergency Service (SES), says 10 crews were sent to respond to calls for help with minor property damage.
"There's no reports of injury to the SES, however we have received approximately 30 calls for assistance across the state this evening," he said.
"Most of the calls have come from the Melbourne metropolitan area ... crews are now out just assessing the damage to these properties.
"It is reported as minor damage at this stage."'Nothing like it'
Heather McPherson, of Launching Place, was one of the many people who felt the earth move.
"I nearly fell over," she said.
"I'm an artist and all my paintings fell off the wall - I had canvasses everywhere.
"I came out to pick them up and I had this shudder go through the floor.
"I've never felt anything like it in my life, I could barely stand up."
James Sandman, of Drouin in Victoria's east, was watching TV at the time.
"The whole house absolutely shook, like the foundations shook," he said.
"The walls moved, they wobbled, and myself and my wife just looked at each other and we ... both then looked at the exits wondering do we need to get out."
Greg Cotton was in his apartment in South Yarra at the time.
"It lasted for what seemed to be about two or three seconds. It was significant," he said.
"I've never felt the floor move and move me, and I've lived in this particular building for 15 years."
Police say no injuries or major damage have been reported so far.
[url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5373621/melbourne-escapes-unscathed-earthquake/]http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5373621/melbourne-escapes-unscathed-earthquake/[/url]
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Benjamin Valentine
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