The epicentre of the minor earthquake was recorded north-west of the town at 6.02am, at a depth of 10km.
A 2.9 magnitude earthquake is not always felt by people; however, 12 ‘felt reports’ were submitted to Geoscience Australia’s Earthquakes site.
The closest seismic equipment to record the event was 52km away at Moama’s Anglican Grammar School, while the furthest station was 650km away, in Hallett, South Australia.
Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Hadi Ghasemi said the seismic sensors were very sensitive.
He said that while it depended on the strength of infrastructure in each area where an earthquake occurred, they didn’t generally cause much damage unless they were around a 4 magnitude or above.
In the past 20 years, there have been eight other earthquakes recorded in the region, with the largest being a 3.3 magnitude in 2022, also near Rushworth, according to Dr Ghasemi.
He said if aftershocks occurred, they likely woouldn’t be felt and probably wouldn’t be larger than 1.9, as they were usually one unit of magnitude less than the main event, at most.
“Aftershocks are always a possibility,” Dr Ghasemi said.
“Generally speaking, aftershocks are much smaller than the initial earthquake.”
Geoscience Australia advises people to drop, cover and hold on to keep themselves safe during an earthquake.
Once it’s over, a felt report can be submitted to its Earthquakes@GA website.
“This data is extremely valuable to help us better understand the intensity of earthquakes in Australia and informs important decision-making tools like the National Seismic Hazard Assessment,” a Geoscience Australia spokesperson said.
The VICSES did not receive any callouts or reports of damage from the earthquake.
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