Longley Earthquake: Tremor rocks small Tasmanian town
- A small earthquake was recorded in Tasmania
- Residents startled by small tremors
- READ MORE: Earthquake rocks South Australia with magnitude 4.2 quake near Jamestown
An earthquake measuring 1.8 on the Richter scale shook the small town of Longley in southern Tasmania just after 10pm on Sunday.
Geoscience Australia, the government agency that reports on significant earthquakes, received more than 35 felt reports from residents as far away as Kingston, Blackmans Bay and Margate.
Senior seismologist Phil Cummins said it was both surprising and impressive how many people felt the quake.
‘I’m a bit surprised that there have been so many reports, but it could just be that it is close enough to populated areas. “It was a weak quake overall, but still it’s quite something for an earthquake of this small magnitude,” he said The Mercury.
Geoscience Australia received more than 35 felt reports from residents of Kingston, Blackmans Bay and Margate
Mr Cummins said there are a number of reasons why people might feel this.
“It could be a random chance that someone is more likely to feel it, but it could also be that there are people who have houses on soft ground, which amplifies the shaking a little bit,” he explained.
He added that obtaining these felt reports helps experts understand more about the behavior of earthquakes and their seismic waves.
There were no reports of injuries or property damage.
Mr Cummins said follow-up earthquakes were unlikely to occur and were not common in and around Hobart.
“Earthquakes can occur anywhere in Australia because of the gradual build-up of stress in the Australian crust caused by forces transmitted from the plate boundary thousands of kilometers away,” he said.
Last year, a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded west of the northwestern tip of Tasmania.