A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has been recorded off the coast of Western Australia.
The earthquake was detected about 10.45am local time on Thursday 260km from Albany on WA’s south coast, at a depth of 10km.
It comes just two days after thousands of residents were left without power after a magnitude 4.1 earthquake shook regional NSW.
The event was recorded at 12.15pm on Tuesday 7km from Denman in the Upper Hunter Region, 250km north of Sydney, at a depth of 10km.
More than 300 people reported feeling the earthquake in the Hunter Valley, Central Coast, Scone and Penrith in western Sydney, according to Geoscience Australia.
Experts warned the NSW earthquake was part of a ‘swarm series’ that would cause more seismic activity in the area in coming months.
Residents of the NSW mining town of Muswellbrook were told to expect ‘hundreds to thousands’ of aftershocks after four earthquakes in three months.
“With earthquake swarms you have a series of earthquakes of similar magnitude – it’s not like an aftershock series,” GeoScience Australia senior seismologist Dr Hadi Ghasemi told the ABC.
The magnitude 4.0 earthquake was detected about 10:45 a.m. local time on Thursday about 160 miles (260 km) from Albany on Washington’s south coast, at a depth of 6 miles (10 km) (photo)
The earthquake struck the coast of the D’Entrecasteaux National Park, 315 km south of Perth
“In this region, since the magnitude 4.7 in August, we have recorded more than 50 earthquakes, four of them with magnitudes greater than 4, including the recent one.”
Dr. Ghasemi warned residents of the possibility of further tremors being felt.
“All previous magnitude-4 shocks in this region were followed by smaller aftershocks,” he said.
“But on the other hand, with the swarm activity, this kind of activity could continue for months or even years.”
There’s more to come.