A SEISMOLOGY expert has predicted more tremors will follow a 2.7 magnitude earthquake that rattled Bendigo and its surrounds on Tuesday night.
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The minor quake was centred around Black Creek Road in Shelbourne, about 20 kilometres south-east of Bendigo.
Residents reported hearing a large bang just after 9.30pm, which many compared to thunder, but no homes or property were damaged.
Adam Pascale, the head of siesmology at the ES&S Seismology Research Centre, said the area had experienced six earthquakes in the past 18 months, but most couldn’t be heard or felt.
“They happen in swarms... the area seems to be active again and this is certainly one of the larger ones in recent years,” he said.
“It would appear to be an active sequence that will continue for some time.”
But Mr Pascale said the frequent small earthquakes were releasing pressure, making a larger earthquake unlikely.
He said the region had experienced larger earthquakes in the past. “The biggest was a magnitude 4 in 1969 and a 3.5 in 1991,” he said.
Mr Pascale said Tuesday night’s earthquake would have been felt in a 10 to 20 kilometre radius of the epicentre.
Residents reported hearing and feeling the earthquake in Bendigo, Kangaroo Flat, Maiden Gully, Golden Square, Maldon, Lockwood and Harcourt North.
Dan Ashby’s Shelbourne home was at the epicentre of the quake.
“It felt like something had fallen over on the veranda,” he said.
“It sounded like someone had thumped on a window or something had dropped on the ground. But the dogs didn’t even get out of bed.”
Tom Brereton, who lives on Foreman Road, Shelbourne, described the tremor as “a loud clap... like a jet going overhead”.
Nearby resident Riki Brown said she slept through the tremor but children Jackson and Tayla had felt the house shake for a few seconds.
“I didn’t think it was an earthquake, but I looked on Facebook and saw all these statuses about an earthquake,” Tayla said.