Residents of the Hunter region in New South Wales were rattled in the early hours of the morning by a 4.6 magnitude earthquake.
The seismic event was so powerful that it branched out from Singleton, sending rumbles from Taree and Wollongong, including Sydney, all the way down to Canberra.
On April 23, Geoscience Australia noted it had detected the quake which struck 10 kilometres below Singleton, near Newcastle.
By 8 a.m., 3,654 people had officially reported feeling the quake to Geoscience Australia, with reports that some high rises in Sydney had also been affected.
Phil Cummins, a senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia, told the ABC the size of the earthquake was quite large for Australia.
“I would certainly say it’s significant,” he said.
“Historically, there’s also been the Ellalong earthquake of magnitude 5.4 in 1994, and then of course there was the Newcastle earthquake magnitude 5.6 in 1989.”
It was also 10 kilometres underground, and was followed by a second 4.5 magnitude quake the following day.
Thousands of people reported the 2024 Hunter Valley earthquakes to Geoscience Australia.
In total, the Hunter Valley region has had 11 magnitude 3 or greater quakes in the past 12 months.
Australian earthquakes tend to occur due to tectonic stress in the Earth’s plates, which can be triggered from thousands of miles away.
Eventually, the Earth’s crust gives way and an earthquake is felt.
