Quick-thinking mum seen protecting her baby as huge earthquake rocks Australia
Shocking footage has captured the heartwarming moment an Australian mother tries to protect her baby after being woken up by a massive earthquake.
The magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck the town of Muswellbrook, near Newcastle, in northern New South Wales, just before 6am on Saturday, September 7.
A baby monitor captured the moment the Hunter Valley mother was woken by a loud bang and violent shaking as her son slept next to her.
The clip showed the quick-thinking mother scooping the baby into her arms before glancing around to make sure they were safe.
“Pay attention to my motherly instincts when an earthquake happens,” she captioned the video.
“We’ve had two earthquakes in the last two weeks, so I was on edge. I was about to run to the bathroom if it went on for another second.”
Hundreds of viewers praised the woman’s quick response.
“Nothing compares to maternal instinct,” said one.
A baby monitor captured the moment Hunter Valley mother was woken by a loud bang and violent shaking as she slept next to her son (pictured)
The clip showed the quick-thinking mother taking the toddler in her arms (photo)
“My maternal instincts quickly kicked in,” someone else wrote.
‘Mother instincts are the best, I woke up twice with reflux and choking on my son. He didn’t make a sound,’ said a second.
A third said: ‘You become an incredibly light sleeper as you get older’.
Others expressed relief that the woman and her son were not injured.
‘It’s nice that you both [are] “Safe,” said a third.
Dozens of homes in surrounding suburbs suffered minor damage and many residents were left without power in the morning.
Just two weeks earlier, the town of Denman, about 20km south of Muswellbrook, was hit by a 4.8 magnitude earthquake.
It was the strongest earthquake to hit the region in 50 years, but smaller than the 5.4 magnitude quake that struck Newcastle in 1989, which killed 13 people.
Muswellbrook Shire Council Mayor Steven Reynolds said he was in bed when his house shook violently.
“I’ll tell you, I thought the roof was going to come in on me,” he said.
“You couldn’t miss it, it was big. We have the mine explosions here and I knew straight away it wasn’t anything like that.”
Hundreds of properties in the area were slightly damaged by the quake (debris can be seen on a footpath after the quake in Muswellbrook, northern New South Wales)
There are unconfirmed reports of stock on supermarket shelves falling to the floor (pictured) after a magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Denham in NSW.
Sydney residents living more than 170 kilometres away reported feeling tremors from the earthquake.
Unverified reports on social media showed produce falling from supermarket shelves and cracks in the walls of some homes.
There were no reports of major damage to infrastructure, but the NSW State Emergency Service received almost a dozen calls for minor damage.
Australia has been hit by 16 earthquakes in the past week, 12 of which had magnitudes between two and three.
According to Geoscience Australia, about 100 earthquakes of magnitude three or greater are recorded in the country each year.