A magnitude 4.8 earthquake has rattled Melbourne and regional Victoria, with the tremor recorded shortly after 2am on Saturday near the South Gippsland town of Leongatha.
Geoscience Australia said the epicentre was about 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne and the quake occurred at a depth of 10 metres. More than 10,000 felt reports had been submitted to the agency by 2.30am.
The Victorian State Emergency Service confirmed the seismic activity and alerted crews.
The tremor comes amid a period of increased seismic activity in Victoria since the magnitude 5.9 earthquake in September 2021, which damaged buildings in Melbourne and was felt across south-eastern Australia.
Subsequent earthquakes have included a magnitude 3.8 event near Sunbury in May 2023, described as the largest recorded within metropolitan Melbourne for 120 years, and a magnitude 4.6 quake near Mount Baw Baw the following month. More than 10,000 people reported feeling the latter.
In August last year, hundreds of people were shaken awake by a magnitude 3.2 earthquake on the Mornington Peninsula. Experts have previously said the tremors were part of normal seismic activity following the 2021 earthquake.
