Melbourne residents reveal terrifying moment earthquake hit
A record-breaking earthquake has sent shockwaves across Victoria and interstate, with more aftershocks expected in the coming days and potentially months ahead.
Office workers and city residents, some still in their pyjamas, spilled onto city streets after buildings were evacuated.
“My whole bed started rattling and my cupboard doors even opened,” one Melbourne resident told A Current Affair.
Melbourne highrise resident Manisha and her partner live with their one-year-old in an apartment on the 42nd floor.
They said they had never experienced anything like it.
“At that level you can feel the building was shaking left and right,” Manisha said.
There have been no reports of serious injury but the damage bill is continuing to rise.
One building on Melbourne’s iconic Chapel Street crumbled from the side, while chimneys toppled from homes.
Troy McDonagh from Betty’s Burgers said if it wasn’t for lockdown people could’ve been seriously hurt.
“On a normal non-COVID lockdown period, it’d be buzzing, so we got that as a real blessing,” he said.
“The main thing is no one was hurt, no one was inside, no one was upstairs. That’s the main thing.”
Benji was just metres away from his home when the quake struck.
“I was walking to my car this morning and as the earthquake hit, I turned around and there were bricks falling from the sky,” he said.
“My partner as well, she was in the shower, so the whole house was shaking, she didn’t know what was going on.”
The moment the earthquake hit was captured by thousands.
Breakfast TV was put on hold and 3AW’s Tony Jones was broadcasting live as it happened.
“Jesus this is quite disturbing,” Jones said while the radio station was shaking.
Members of the public took to social media following the quake.
One group of kids were filming themselves building a LEGO tower when it hit and as you’d expect, the LEGO tower didn’t make it.
Parents were captured on baby monitors rushing to their child’s aid and CCTV from supermarkets and chemists illustrated the full force of the tremor.
The 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck around 9.15am in Victoria’s alpine region, just outside Mansfield.
It was at least 10 kilometres below the surface and its wave could be felt all across Melbourne, and in parts of NSW, South Australia and across the Tasman.
Chief Scientist at the Seismology Research Centre Adam Pascale said the quake was the largest onshore earthquake in Victoria’s recorded history.
“The distance you are from an earthquake really affects the damage, so fortunately this one, (in Melbourne) we’re over 100 kilometres away from the epicentre,” he said.
The epicentre was located north of Rawson.
Legendary AFL announcer Craig Willis, who was in Mansfield when it hit, said it was like a strong wind was rushing through his home.
“I live on a dirt road and often we have trucks going past carrying cattle and we get a slight vibration from that, so I remember saying gee that’s a big truck going past,” he said.
