We had an earthquake

Can you believe that? I mean we can hardly believe it and there were several million people thinking the same way. Australia doesn’t get earthquakes.

Well, apparently we do.

Back in 1989

The biggest earthquake I can remember was back in 1989. It wasn’t around here but in Newcastle just north of Sydney.

It made big news because we don’t get earthquakes. It was a magnitude 5.6 earthquake and it did a lot of damage. On a side note why don’t they name earthquakes as they do for cyclones and hurricanes?

Everyone was in shock. No one thought that sort of thing was possible.  We were wrong, but it isn’t something I ever thought I would really experience. There have been small ones, ones that we don’t notice. There has even been a couple of jolts that we have felt. We knew what they were, but they were so slight that it would have been easy to miss them.

Wednesday, 22nd of September 2021

I was having my morning tea and working out what to do. Suddenly Susie, the cat, got spooked and then my chair started shaking. The house was shaking too. At first, I thought the neighbours must have been doing something and then I realised it was an earthquake. I got up and went down to where my husband was working. He was leaving the room and we both looked at each other and said, “do you feel that it’s an earthquake”. I think we were kind of excited.

He was actually going to stand in the doorway, but I was so surprised I didn’t think of anything like that. My first and only thought was to get to Dave.

The aftermath

Well, there really wasn’t any. It turned out to be a magnitude 5.9 earthquake and the epicentre was in Mansfield that is about 200 kms northeast of Melbourne. There were aftershocks but we didn’t feel those.

The biggest surprise was the lack of damage. One person had slight injuries. A few buildings had some minor damage, but overall after our world stopped shaking we just got on with it, life that is. Or really we all got on the phone or social media saying, “did you feel it”.

I think everyone has been really amazed that such a big earthquake could hit and it would do almost no damage. Apparently, we do build buildings that can withstand earthquakes. Perhaps if the epicentre had been in Melbourne it would have been a different story. Small mercies and all that.

There has been a lot of jokes going around about it, which has been fun too. More so I think because no one was hurt. It makes a lockdown morning a little more exciting, that’s for sure.

I thought I would share some of my photos from a trip to and around Manfield a few years ago. So the photos are more from Bonnie Doon which is just before you get to Mansfield. We did drive into the town for lunch but didn’t take any photos.

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36 Comments

    1. Haha I think we were surprised feeling it too. Yeah I think it is quite amazing that no one was hurt and there was almost no damage. Thank you Julie.

  1. I am sorry you had to have that experience but I am glad no serious damage was done.

    On 1 September, we were hit by a tornado. Direct hit. Our basement flooded but we otherwise suffered no damage so we got very lucky and are very grateful for that. However, many others in our community were not so lucky. We mercifully only had a handful of deaths but houses have been completely destroyed. We lost one of our schools, another was badly damaged (meaning two of my kids have had to pivot back to virtual school after just one day of in-person school), our police station was destroyed, and scores of houses have been condemned and many more badly damaged so we have a lot of displaced people in our community. All of which is to say that I never anticipated that I would ever experience a tornado living in Pennsylvania. We probably didn’t take the warnings seriously enough. We were a bit tardy getting down to our basement. We will definitely heed the warnings from now on.

    1. I have to say, if you have to experience an earthquake it is a good way to do it. No damage no harm. I feel guilty saying it was kind of exciting.

      I’m so glad that you had almost no damage from the tornado. Those are really scary and unpredictable. Where I am we don’t really get anything like that, nothing that destroys like that. We get fires around in regional areas, and sometimes floods, but we are on a hill so not here. It is hard to imagine what it would be like. I’m fascinated by tornadoes because of that reason. I wouldn’t want to go through what you did though. I’m so glad you are okay. Oh yeah, that is a bit far away from where they usually are. Yes, heed warnings next time, but like us I hope it doesn’t happen again.

  2. Hi Leanne,
    first of all, great that you are well.
    We only experienced an earthquake once in Greece, but fortunately it was a very little one.
    We like your pictures very much. The colour editing is great!
    Wishing you a wonderful weekend
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

  3. Leanne, I know how you felt with this earthquake , I live in California the earthquake place, I have gone through some horrible earthquakes were the tables move and the pictures on the wall fall off and the cups in the pantry shatter. It is a horrible feeling for that scary moment where feel like the world is turning upside down. I am glad you survived it.

    1. I am glad we won’t have to experience a lot of them. This may be the only one I ever go through. I’m sure what you experience is far worse than us. Yeah, I’m glad it wasn’t too bad. Thank you Cornelia.

  4. I read it was the New Zealand plate giving Australia a wee push…don’t know if this was the case or not! We have too many quakes this side of the ditch to name them I think! Pity though….

    1. We do get a lot of earthquakes apparently, they are just so small no one feels them. So I have no idea if that is right or not, could be, who knows. You do get quite a few there, are you on some major fault line, ring of fire or something like that.

  5. I’ve lived in earthquake areas and been through quite a few quakes. However Sacramento isn’t on or near a fault line. It’s true they don’t name quakes like other natural disasters. Maybe that’s because they don’t last long enough to name! Next time join your hubby in a doorway or under the kitchen table. Nice images!

    1. I know they don’t last long, but they can cause a lot of damage. Thankfully ours didn’t. I really should have just walked outside, I was close to the back door. California would get a lot of quakes. Good to hear you don’t have to put up with them now. Thank you Anne.

  6. I have to say I am one of the few who didn’t feel a thing, here in Narooma. Was there a tsunami warning issued? Also loving the chatter on social media about it being #danadreeasfault. 😆

    1. Yeah my mum, who lives in Victoria, didn’t feel anything as well. We did get told there was no need to worry about a tsunami, I think they only happen when the quake happens underwater. Poor Dan, I feel sorry for him, he is doing his best to keep us all safe, but people are being silly.

    1. We were just laughing. There have been some funny stories around about it. I don’t many of us really know what to do in an earthquake. Thanks Carol. How are you?

    2. Congratulations Carol, are you loving being a grandma? Retired is good too. I don’t think being a grandmother is on the cards for me.

  7. When I heard about the quake, I thought of tou, Leanne. Your camera gear has image stabilization, right? Good luck and stay well and calm. Best, Babsje

    1. It was a suprise for many, lol. Yeah it was kind of exciting. Not everyday that happens, it might be the only earthquake I ever experience. Thanks Chris.

  8. It looks like there isn’t much population in that area which is good. I’m glad that there was no real damage and no deaths, Amen. On the other hand, where I am at, there are quakes fairly often but the last one was well south of Las Vegas, I didn’t feel it. Scary stuff, Leanne!

    1. You are right about that John, there aren’t a lot of people in that area which is good. Yeah, I’m sure it would be scary if you were getting them all the time, thankfully that isn’t the case here. Though I think we were all surprised by the size of it. Stay safe John.

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