A magnitude 4.5 earthquake has hit the Hunter region of New South Wales early Saturday morning, two weeks after an earthquake of a similar size struck the region.
The earthquake struck Muswellbrook, 125km north-west of Newcastle, just before 6am on Saturday, with thousands of reports lodged with Geoscience Australia from those who felt the shake.
A magnitude 2.6 earthquake struck the area on Friday morning, followed by a 2.5 quake just after 9pm, and a 2.6 quake just before midnight, before the larger quake on Saturday morning.
The Saturday morning earthquake was felt in Sydney, down to Wollongong and up to Port Macquarie, according to reports lodged with Geoscience Australia.
We’ve detected an #earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 at 5.58am in Muswellbrook, NSW. If you need assistance in response to this earthquake, contact your local emergency services. Complete a felt report at https://t.co/GbOFf4zc24 pic.twitter.com/bteGKWCRaB
— Geoscience Australia (@GeoscienceAus) September 6, 2024nn”}}”>
According to Ausgrid, around 2,500 customers were without power in Muswellbrook and the surrounding suburbs of Denman, Jerry Plains, Bureen and Bengalla on Saturday morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology said there was no tsunami threat following the quake.
The earthquake comes two weeks after a magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit Denman, 25km away, two weeks ago on 23 August. That caused windows to smash and a chimney to fall over, with felt reports recorded in Sydney, as far south as Canberra, in the north to Armidale and west to Dubbo.
The Liddell power station, one of the seven sites the Coalition has proposed a nuclear power station, is less than 20km away from Muswellbrook.
Labor MP for Hunter, Dan Repacholi, posted to social media that “the ground has grumbled again with a decent shake” on Saturday morning.
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“This time a 4.5 magnitude, earthquake at a depth of 5km, 15km south west of Muswellbrook,” he said.
“Obviously for a large section of the area, the power is out and Ausgrid are working to get power back on safely.”
More details soon …