Sydney Buildings Shaken As Earthquake Hits Hunter Region

A 4.6 magnitude earthquake hit the NSW Hunter region overnight, with tremors being felt as far as Wollongong and the Blue Mountains.

Many residents living in high-rise apartments in Sydney reported feeling the earthquake, which struck about 25 kilometres south-west of Singleton, just before 3am on Wednesday.

According to data from Geoscience Australia, more than 35,000 people reported feeling the earthquake. More than 50 residents in Wentworth Point, a suburb on the Parramatta River, reported feeling the tremors.

Dozens also reported feeling the tremors in high-rise buildings in Mascot, near Sydney Airport.

Residents as far west as Katoomba in the Blue Mountains reported feeling the quake. There have been no reports of damage or injuries.

“I was [feeling], like, really strong movements,” one Wentworth Point resident, who said he felt his entire apartment shake, told Today.

“I was [feeling] like, ‘Oh, what’s happening?’ It was amazing and also really kind of scary.”

Hunter Valley had a string of powerful earthquakes last year

Hunter also had two earthquakes in August of last year, one was 4.7 magnitude and the other was 4.5. They both hit Hunter in two days and caused widespread power outages near the tremors’ epicentre near Muswellbrook. Two weeks later, another 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit the region.

After the earthquakes in August, the Coalition announced that its proposed nuclear site in the Hunter region would be abandoned if studies revealed unacceptable risks. The Coalition had planned to build a nuclear reactor near the Liddell coal plant, near where the quakes struck.

“There have been quite a number of earthquakes in this region,” Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Dr Phil Cummins said.

“Further north, up near Muswellbrook, we’ve had quite a few of those and two above a magnitude 4.5 last year … so this is not that unusual for this region.”

Cummins expected some aftershocks, ranging from small to more substantial, to continue for up to a week.

He encouraged people who felt the tremors to report the quake via the Geoscience Australia website.