Earthquake rumbles up East Gippsland valley shaking homes

A magnitude-3.9 earthquake struck Ensay, a town in eastern Victoria, Victoria, Australia, on Saturday night, shaking nearby homes and prompting concerns about potential aftershocks. The epicenter was located about 350 kilometers east of Melbourne. Geosciences Australia has received 346 reports from residents who felt the tremors.

Swifts Creek residents described the quake as shaking their houses, with one resident likening it to a large tree falling behind their home. Another resident, Ray Gallagher, said the earthquake felt different from anything they had experienced before, rattling the joints of their concrete-floored house and causing glass to rattle.

Geosciences Australia senior seismologist Jonathan Griffin stated that the organization had recorded 27 earthquakes within 100 kilometers of Ensay in the past decade, but Saturday's quake was the most powerful. He explained that Australia's position at the center of a tectonic plate, which moves about 7 centimeters a year, causes the land to be squeezed and compressed, occasionally resulting in earthquakes.

Dr. Griffin warned that aftershocks were possible in the coming days and weeks, though predicting earthquakes is inherently uncertain.