The day the earth shook

Paul Dunlop
HOMES were shaken last week by an earthquake that rattled furniture and gave residents a jolt.
The 3.7 magnitude tremor, which occurred just after 1.30pm on Thursday, was centred in the Bunyip State Park but was felt widely throughout the region.
Residents from Berwick to Bunyip spoke of a rumble that lasted several seconds.
Naomi McAntee, of Pakenham Upper, said she felt two distinct jolts, one after another, a couple of seconds apart.
“I was standing in the kitchen and it was very, very strong. I was actually quite frightened,” she said.
Linda, of Gembrook, was at home with her daughter when she felt the earth move.
“The whole house shook, glasses and everything were shaking. My daughter and I ran outside, we certainly felt it. It sounded like a truck in the house.”
Bunyip resident Joy Willis said the tremor rattled all of her windows, almost prompting her to seek shelter under the kitchen table.
“It started off slowly then really rumbled,” she said.
“I was unpacking groceries and just stood there stunned. I had to do a walk around the house to make sure it was all still there. It was a bit unnerving.”
Shannon Fullerton was at home in Berwick when the tremor sent a shiver through her house. She felt her heart in her mouth.
“I thought it was the washing machine blowing up. I wasn’t sure what had happened. I could feel the armchair shaking underneath me, it was freaky,” she said.
In Pakenham, Ricky Dingley said he heard a rumbling sound like a V8 engine.
“I thought, gee, that’s a weird sound, then there was a huge explosion in the ground. We’ve just had our backyard excavated and it lifted the dust off the top layer in the backyard.
“There was a rumble after that, like an underground explosion. It was a bit of an experience.”
The quake was said to be the result of local crustal faulting rather than tectonic plate faulting.
Local crustal faulting happens when stresses in the earth’s crust pressure the rock above, forcing it to break.