AUSTRALIA has been rocked by a 6-magnitude earthquake, forcing people to flee into the street as high-rise buildings started to shake.
The tremors were felt across Victoria, Canberra and even in parts of Sydney, with some properties crumbling in Melbourne, say reports.
A shallow earthquake rattled Australia’s southeast just after 9am Wednesday local time (midnight GMT) and was felt hundreds of kilometres away.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck near Melbourne, Geoscience Australia confirmed.
The quake’s epicentre was close to the rural town of Mansfield, about 200km (124 miles) northeast of Melbourne, and struck at a depth of 10km (six miles).
Radio station 3AW posted a picture of rubble on a street in Melbourne which it attributed to the quake, and people in northern parts of the city said on social media they had lost power.
No tsunami threat has been issued to the Australian mainland, islands or territories, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.
Geonet said the “Magnitude 6.0 earthquake detected in Victoria constitutes largest earthquake on land in Australia since 1997.”
In Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews tweeted: “Yes, that was an earthquake.”
Victoria State Emergency Service said there had been “widespread [quake] felt reports. There is no tsunami threat.”
In Adelaide, the main hospital building was briefly evacuated due to shaking felt at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woodville.
Staff were also evacuated from Bendigo Hospital in Bendigo, Victoria.
Some residents took to social media to double-check they hadn’t imagined the shaking.
Lucy Cochran tweeted: “Um Melbourne. Was that an earth quake?”
Elsewhere on Twitter there were photos showing grocery items scattered across the floor in supermarkets after being tossed from shelves.
There was also a sense of drama on live TV news shows, when cameras and tables starting shaking as presenters were rocked on air.
