A magnitude-6 earthquake has struck in north-east Victoria, with tremors felt across the state, New South Wales, Canberra and as far away as Adelaide and Launceston.
There are reports of damage to buildings in Melbourne.
Geoscience Australia reports that there were three earthquakes within an hour south of Mansfield in Victoria.
The owner of The Witches Brew Café in Mansfield, Rebecca Douglas, was serving customers store when the earthquake struck.
“The whole place shook really,” she told the Guardian Australia. “Nothing broke, thank goodness, but it was quite concerning. I said perhaps we should move outside just in case, and by that time it was already over.”
Douglas said the tremor, in total, lasted about 15 seconds.
“It started slow, built up and everyone was nervous. We heard this rumble, rumble like a big truck coming through the building,” she said. “Since then, customers are here and getting lots of phone calls from concerned family and friends everywhere.”
There are reports of building swaying dramatically, and there has been some damage reported.
In Melbourne, brickwork from an archway on the Coles building on Wattle Street has fallen to the ground but nobody has been hurt.
Glad no one has been hurt. Now perhaps all those “protesters” could muck in and do something useful for a change and help clean up. Yeah right, more chance of the tooth fairy turning up.