Mini Earthquake 3.1 Magnitude Hits Near Australian Capital

Mini Earthquake 3.1 Magnitude Hits Near Australian Capital
A 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit near Canberra, Australia, at 10:05 a.m. local time on Jan. 18, 2019. (earthquakes.ga.gov.au)
Mimi Nguyen Ly
1/17/2019
Updated:
1/18/2019

A 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit just outside of the Australian Capital Territory near Canberra, the capital city of Australia, at 10:05 a.m. local time on Jan. 18.

The quake occurred near Forde, a northern suburb of Canberra, with the epicentre of the earthquake just outside the ACT.

“Hi everyone, our seismologists have just updated the location of the epicentre to outside the ACT’s border, near Sutton,” Geoscience Australia wrote on Facebook around 11 a.m., and provided an updated map of the location.
The quake had a depth of about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Geoscience Australia said that by about 10:30 a.m., 200 reports of the quake had already been filed.

People told 2GB radio that they had “felt a bang and shaking.”

On Twitter, some called the quake “bloody scary” while others dubbed it “cute.”

“North Canberra just had an Earthquake or major tremor bloody scary!” user Scott Thorpe wrote on Twitter.

But Tanya Bradanovich did not see the mini-tremor the same way, writing to Twitter: “My first Australian tremor (because there’s no way I’ll let you call this 2-second movement an earthquake, Canberra). How cute!”

Some went away with the euphemisms and called the quake “ineffective.”

One opportunist wondered whether he can go home after feeling the rumble in his office.

One man noted the extreme weather conditions that the capital city has had to endure as of late.

“Canberra! First a record-breaking heatwave, then a massive electrical storm, now an earthquake,” he wrote on Twitter.

No casualties have been reported.

Earthquake hazard seismologist Trevor Allen told the ABC that there is a “long history of earthquakes in the Canberra region.”

“In terms of the capital cities across Australia, Canberra is one of the highest rated in terms of the earthquake hazard,” Allen said in 2017.

He said the last known earthquake that was felt throughout the region was a 3.7 magnitude quake in 2012, near Wee Jasper, about 92 kilometers from Canberra.

Australian residents can report quakes to Geoscience Australia (link) or EMSC (link).
From NTD.com