The aftershocks of Australia’s most powerful earthquake to hit a major population centre in 50 years could rattle the country for months, officials have warned.
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake on Wednesday rocked Melbourne and demolished part of a Betty’s Burgers restaurant on the city’s famous Chapel Street – with residents living as far away as Sydney, Tasmania and South Australia feeling the tremors.
The quake struck at 9.15am near the small town of Mansfield 180km north-east of Melbourne and temporarily knocked out power for 35,000 homes and businesses.
The tremor is the largest earthquake to affect one of Australia’s major cities since a magnitude 6.5 quake hit 130km east of Perth in October 1968.
There have been six aftershocks since with magnitudes between 2.4 and 4.1 and Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said further tremors could hit the state for weeks and months to come.
Locals are pictured examining debris from a damaged building along Chapel Street in Melbourne on Wednesday
![An apartment building is evacuated in the Melbourne CBD on Wednesday morning after the earthquake](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/03/48225719-10015085-image-a-29_1632276199368.jpg)
An apartment building is evacuated in the Melbourne CBD on Wednesday morning after the earthquake
‘We will likely see more aftershocks for weeks or even months,’ he told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
‘They say it’s unlikely we will see anything that will equal or exceed what we saw at 9.15am this morning but there is a chance of significant aftershocks impacting Victoria.’
There have been no reported injuries from Wednesday morning’s earthquake but Victoria’s State Emergency Service said it has responded to 100 requests for assistance across the state.
The requests were mainly due to minor structural damage to buildings such as chimney and facade collapses, SES Chief Officer Tim Wiebusch said.
Mr Wiebusch said the partly-demolished restaurant on Chapel Street and a facade collapse in Brunswick Road in Fitzroy were the two most significant reports of structural damage in Melbourne.
Some 60 traders have reported damage along the famous promenade.
No one was inside the restaurant when the earthquake hit, managing director Troy McDonagh said.
![Deputy Premier James Merlino said the Beechworth hospital in north-eastern Victoria lost power lost power following the earthquake](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/06/48231901-10015781-image-m-20_1632290064335.jpg)
Deputy Premier James Merlino said the Beechworth hospital in north-eastern Victoria lost power lost power following the earthquake
‘We’re out for months, it’s structural, it looks like the top’s come away, we need to get engineers in to assess it and then the works will need to be completed,’ he said.
However, reports of damage have emerged from the Mansfield township and the Beechworth hospital in north-eastern Victoria lost power, Deputy Premier James Merlino said.
Office and apartment blocks across Melbourne were evacuated immediately following the earthquake.
There are also reports of damage in Prahran – where rubble was seen strewn across the road on Wattle Street – Brunswick, West Melbourne and Albert Park.
A homeowner near Leongatha in South Gippsland who was in the bathroom when the earthquake hit said the sound was like a ‘jet engine’ and the glass shower screen was shaking.
![Pictures have emerged of a Betty's Burgers restaurant partially collapsed on Chapel St in Melbourne's inner-city after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/01/48224403-10015085-image-a-12_1632272358111.jpg)
Pictures have emerged of a Betty’s Burgers restaurant partially collapsed on Chapel St in Melbourne’s inner-city after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake
![Emergency and rescue officials examine a damaged building in the popular shopping Chapel Street in Melbourne following the earthquake](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/02/48225025-10015085-image-a-23_1632274376711.jpg)
Emergency and rescue officials examine a damaged building in the popular shopping Chapel Street in Melbourne following the earthquake
![Rubble is pictured outside the Betty's Burgers on Chapel Street after the building was damaged by the earthquake](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/03/48225937-10015085-image-a-43_1632276724147.jpg)
Rubble is pictured outside the Betty’s Burgers on Chapel Street after the building was damaged by the earthquake
![Two people crouch down after the earthquake forced with the evacuation of a Melbourne building on Wednesday morning](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/03/48225725-10015085-image-a-31_1632276282838.jpg)
Two people crouch down after the earthquake forced with the evacuation of a Melbourne building on Wednesday morning
![A building also appeared to have been damaged by the earthquake on Wattle Street in Melbourne's inner-city Prahran](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/03/48226135-10015085-image-a-48_1632276981640.jpg)
A building also appeared to have been damaged by the earthquake on Wattle Street in Melbourne’s inner-city Prahran
![Pictured are people evacuating Melbourne CBD buildings after Melbourne felt the tremors from a magnitude 5.8 earthquake on Wednesday morning](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/03/48225867-10015085-image-a-38_1632276528666.jpg)
![A woman in her dressing gown as a building is evacuated in Melbourne on Wednesday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/03/48225859-10015085-image-m-37_1632276523001.jpg)
Pictured are people evacuating Melbourne CBD buildings after Melbourne felt the tremors from a magnitude 5.8 earthquake on Wednesday morning
‘I grabbed my granddaughter and held her tight,’ the woman said. ‘It was very frightening.’
‘The whole world just shook,’ another Victorian said.
New Zealander Colin, who lives in Ferntree Gully in Melbourne, said the quake felt just as powerful as the magnitude 6.2 Christchurch earthquake in 2011 that caused widespread damage across the city and killed 185 people.
‘About 30 seconds it lasted. I didn’t know whether to run outside or upstairs,’ he told Newstalk ZB.
‘I’m in a solid concrete house, so it really shook. It shook as much as I’ve felt in Christchurch.’
![Pictured: Damage to the Betty's Burgers restaurant. The earthquake has been reported in Victoria and tremors were felt across Melbourne and as far away as Canberra and Sydney](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/02/48224449-10015085-Pictured_Damage_to_the_Betty_s_Burgers_restaurant_The_earthquake-a-5_1632273678492.jpg)
Pictured: Damage to the Betty’s Burgers restaurant. The earthquake has been reported in Victoria and tremors were felt across Melbourne and as far away as Canberra and Sydney
Seismology Research Centre chief scientist Adam Pascale said it was not surprising the quake had been felt as far away as Canberra’s Parliament House, central Sydney, northern Tasmania and parts of Adelaide.
He said because Australia’s south-east is part of a stable continental region of old, hard rock, the energy from a quake travels further.
‘A magnitude 5.8 in California wouldn’t be felt anywhere near as far as in southeast Australia,’ he said.
Victoria’s State Emergency Service confirmed the earthquake was ‘6.0 on the Richter scale and emanated from Mansfield. There is no tsunami threat’.
Premier Daniel Andrews made the first official reaction to the earthquake, tweeting at 9.47am: ‘Yes, that was an earthquake.’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison then fronted a press conference in Washington DC – where he is taking part in the Quad leaders summit – to reveal the ‘rare event’ had so far led to no injuries.
‘These are very rare events in Australia and I am sure people would have been disturbed – particularly in the most immediate area effected,’ he said.
‘The agencies at a state government level are there responding, and the federal Government will provide the support that is necessary.’
Mr Morrison said he was in ‘text contact’ with Mr Andrews about the quake.
He said any federal response to the emergency will be handled by Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.
Emergency crews have warned Victorians to brace for further aftershocks throughout the day.
‘If you are located in Victoria, you are in danger,’ Victoria’s SES said in a statement.
The SES is receiving calls for assistance from across the state but is yet to make an assessment of any damage.
Lynne Myers of High County Apparel in Mansfield told AAP ‘it just scared the hell out of us.’
![The epicentre of the quake was in Mansfield in eastern Victoria but the shockwaves were felt as far south as Tasmania and as far north as NSW](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/02/48223229-10015085-The_epicentre_of_the_quake_was_in_Mansfield_in_eastern_Victoria_-a-2_1632273678483.jpg)
The epicentre of the quake was in Mansfield in eastern Victoria but the shockwaves were felt as far south as Tasmania and as far north as NSW
‘Everything shook, the roof shook, boots fell off the shelf and I just ran outside,’ she said.
‘There’s no cracks or anything in the walls. We seem to have got over it pretty well. Everyone’s a bit shaken up here but there doesn’t seem to be any damage.
‘I’ve lived here 29 years and have never felt anything like it.’
Mansfield Shire Councillor Mark Holcombe said he lived in the area for 20 years but had never experienced an earthquake.
He said it ‘came out of left field’.
Alice Murphy, a resident of Fitzroy 3km north of the Melbourne CBD, was working at her laptop when the tremors began.
![Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced a press conference in Washington DC - where he is taking part in the Quad leaders summit - to reveal the 'rare' earthquake had so far led to no injuries](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/02/48224715-10015085-Prime_Minister_Scott_Morrison_faced_a_press_conference_in_Washin-a-4_1632273678490.jpg)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced a press conference in Washington DC – where he is taking part in the Quad leaders summit – to reveal the ‘rare’ earthquake had so far led to no injuries
![Melbourne residents walk past debris in the city on Wednesday after the earthquake](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/04/48223335-10015085-Melbourne_residents_walk_past_debris_in_the_city_on_Wednesday_af-a-50_1632282331172.jpg)
![A police car in Windsor in the inner-city in the quake's aftermath](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/04/48223339-10015085-A_police_car_in_Windsor_in_the_inner_city_in_the_quake_s_afterma-m-49_1632282324568.jpg)
Melbourne residents walk past debris in the city on Wednesday after the earthquake, pictured right a police car in Windsor in the inner-city in the quake’s aftermath
‘For a second I thought it was a tram passing by or a huge gust of wind, but then the walls were shaking and the candles were bouncing off the mantlepiece,’ she said.
‘It lasted about 20 seconds and then everyone spilled out onto the street to make sure they hadn’t imagined it!’
A woman named Elizabeth from eastern Melbourne was on a work call when the quake hit.
‘All the windows were shaking, I yelled at the kids to come and stand in a doorway but our eight-year-old ran outside to see if any sinkholes were opening up,’ she said.
‘Fortunately that didn’t happen.’
Craig Luelf from the All Seasons Mansfield resort said he was outside the town hospital when he felt ‘waves of the ground moving’.
‘At first, I thought the car was having a few issues and then realised all of a sudden that everything was moving,’ he said.
‘My father’s neighbour is at the top of a hill and he could see the waves of the ground moving up the hill.’
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/00/48221855-10015085-image-a-13_1632268017746.jpg)
![Social media users in Melbourne reacted with shock after the earthquake shook the Victorian capital](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/00/48221857-10015085-image-a-14_1632268032164.jpg)
Social media users in Melbourne reacted with shock after the earthquake shook the Victorian capital
Ciara Lynch, a 26-year-old Irishwoman living in Balaclava, nine kilometres south of the CBD, was in a Zoom meeting with colleagues in Melbourne and Sydney when her living room started to shake.
‘People were screaming on the call, it was the wildest thing I’ve ever experienced,’ she said.
Baristas at Industry Beans cafe in Melbourne’s inner-north said the walls ‘rumbled’ and lights swung from side to side while they took their morning break.