An earthquake off the NSW Mid North Coast has rocked the Hunter region early this morning, Friday 12th March 2010, Geoscience Australia says.
The tremor, was not major, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, hit 80 kilometres offshore in the east and south-east regions of Port Stephens at 3.24am.
According to a reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald, Glenda Kwek; "It was felt by people around the Hunter region, in Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie," Chris Thompson, a Geoscience Australia spokesman, said. "There were no reports of damage and we don't expect to get any." Mr Thompson said most quakes that took place in this area usually occurred onshore, where damage to people and property was more likely.'s
Glenda's story went on to say "A spokesman for the State Emergency Service said it had "no reports of any damage as a result of that tremor". A father on holiday with his wife and son at Fingal Bay said he felt the quake. "We felt the earthquake last night. We are on holidays at Fingal Bay and we awoke to the house shaking," Tim, who did not give his last name, said. ‘‘My wife grabbed me and all we could think was how to get out of the house with our son if it happened again.’’
A resident of Anna Bay told the ABC the tremor reminded him of the 1989 earthquake in Newcastle. "The Newcastle one sprang to mind straight away because we were here at that time as well. "It felt very similar so the Newcastle one at Boat Harbour, just felt like a minor tremor, and I remember being quite shocked at the damage that caused so nearby," he said.
Last decade, Geoscience Australia recorded almost 3600 earthquakes on the Australian continent - about one a day.
The largest recorded was a 5.4 magnitude quake recorded near Mount Redvers in the Northern Territory.
"Because Australia sits in the middle of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, we are not prone to regular, large damaging earthquakes," Clive Collins, a senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia, said in a statement released last month.
"However, within the last 100 years there have been 14 magnitude 6 to 7 earthquakes which have occurred on the Australian mainland."
The tremor, was not major, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, hit 80 kilometres offshore in the east and south-east regions of Port Stephens at 3.24am.
According to a reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald, Glenda Kwek; "It was felt by people around the Hunter region, in Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie," Chris Thompson, a Geoscience Australia spokesman, said. "There were no reports of damage and we don't expect to get any." Mr Thompson said most quakes that took place in this area usually occurred onshore, where damage to people and property was more likely.'s
Glenda's story went on to say "A spokesman for the State Emergency Service said it had "no reports of any damage as a result of that tremor". A father on holiday with his wife and son at Fingal Bay said he felt the quake. "We felt the earthquake last night. We are on holidays at Fingal Bay and we awoke to the house shaking," Tim, who did not give his last name, said. ‘‘My wife grabbed me and all we could think was how to get out of the house with our son if it happened again.’’
A resident of Anna Bay told the ABC the tremor reminded him of the 1989 earthquake in Newcastle. "The Newcastle one sprang to mind straight away because we were here at that time as well. "It felt very similar so the Newcastle one at Boat Harbour, just felt like a minor tremor, and I remember being quite shocked at the damage that caused so nearby," he said.
Last decade, Geoscience Australia recorded almost 3600 earthquakes on the Australian continent - about one a day.
The largest recorded was a 5.4 magnitude quake recorded near Mount Redvers in the Northern Territory.
"Because Australia sits in the middle of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, we are not prone to regular, large damaging earthquakes," Clive Collins, a senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia, said in a statement released last month.
"However, within the last 100 years there have been 14 magnitude 6 to 7 earthquakes which have occurred on the Australian mainland."
