Australia’s capital shakes as a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hits a country town 100km away
- A magnitude four earthquake rattled New South Wales’ south-eastern regions
- Earthquake alarmed local residents of the sleepy town of Boorowa on Saturday
- Boorowa was the epicentre for the quake which was felt as far away as Canberra
A magnitude four earthquake shook up a small farming village in New South Wales, with the rumble felt more than 100 kilometres away.
The earthquake struck just north-east of Boorowa in the state’s southern tablelands region at 9.45am on Saturday.
Geoscience Australia recorded the epicentre as being 10 kilometres beneath the town.
Geoscience Australia recorded a 4.0 magnitude earthquake in New South Wales’ southern tablelands (above, stations which picked up the quake)
Residents of Boorowa (above) and Frogmore were closest to the epicentre and said the earthquake sounded like ‘thunder but under the ground’
Residents in neighbouring regions reported feeling the quake, including in Canberra, around 110kms from the epicentre.
One local resident of Frogmore, about 20 minutes’ drive from Boorowa, told the ABC her house shook with the quake.
‘We heard what sounded like 20 gas bottles exploding at once and then the ground and house started to shake,’ Melissa Graham said.
‘It sounded like a loud clap of thunder during a thunderstorm with the rolling thunder afterwards … it was like that but under the ground.
‘We’ve had little earthquakes over the years, but today’s has left my heart racing.’
Stations registered the quake from as far away as Buckleboo in South Australia and Quilpie in Queensland, respectively 1.200 and 968 kilometres from the epicentre.
The Parliament House Basement station felt the rumbles just a minute after they began in Boorowa.
The southern tablelands region – including the town of Boorowa, pictured – experiences many low-magnitude earthquakes, but residents said this one was scarier than most