Advertisement

Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Melbourne

One of Australia's biggest earthquakes on record struck the state of Victoria on Wednesday.

Government agency Geoscience Australia said it registered at a magnitude of 6.0, and that its epicenter was near a rural town northeast of Melbourne.

The earthquake caused damage to buildings in the country's second-largest city, with rubble blocking one of its main streets.

Residents of Melbourne recounted the moment the quake hit.

"I felt the building rattle so I grabbed my puppy and went underneath the doorway."

"Very scary, telling the kids just to get ready to get out on the street just in case."

Tremors could also be felt throughout neighboring states in cities as far as Adelaide and Sydney.

More than half of Australia's population of 25 million live in these affected areas, though no deaths have so far been reported.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is currently in Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, spoke to reporters in a news conference.

"At this stage we have had no reports of serious injuries or worse, and that is very good news.

"It can be a very very disturbing event for an earthquake of this nature. They are very rare events in Australia and as a result I'm sure people would have been quite stressed and disturbed by that."

The country's Bureau of Meteorology said it had not issued a tsunami threat following the earthquake, which measured higher than the country's deadliest tremor in 1989 that killed 13 people.