Gippsland registers nine earthquakes in six days

An earthquake scientist says there is nothing unusual about the number of earthquakes recorded in Gippsland in the past nine days.Gippsland has been hit by nine earthquakes in the nine days of October, starting with the magnitude-4.9 quake that rocked the region on Saturday.That earthquake came one week after a magnitude-3.9 earthquake was recorded at Ensay, in eastern Victoria, which at the time was labelled the most powerful recorded in the area in more than a decade.Eight aftershocks have been recorded since Saturday's quake, including two tremors overnight of magnitude-2.5 and 1.5.Geoscience Australia said it received more than 2,000 reports of people feeling Wednesday's tremor, which hit at a depth of 10 kilometres.Seismology Research Centre chief scientist Adam Pascale said the recent aftershock activity is expected, and there might be more to come."We do see this type of activity regularly, just sometimes they're clustered a little bit closer together and other times they're not," he said.Adam Pascale says earthquakes do not need to be big to cause damage. (Supplied: Adam Pascale)Mr Pascale said he expected there would be more aftershocks."I imagine they'll continue for some days and weeks," he said."Whether there's larger events is impossible to tell but again we need to be prepared."A history of EarthquakesMonash University seismologist and Australian Earthquake Engineering Society president, Dee Ninis, said Gippsland had a history of earthquakes."Korumburra is an area that gets quite a few earthquakes; they probably experience an earthquake large enough to be felt a couple of times a year," Dr Ninis said.The region had two magnitude-4.6 quakes in 2009 only a few weeks apart, and also a magnitude-4.4 quake in 2011.Dr Ninis said even though Australia was not along an edge of a tectonic plate boundary like New Zealand or Japan, it could feel the impact of distant plate movement.The largest earthquake on record in Victoria was the magnitude-5.9 magnitude quake near Woods Point in 2021, which was felt 130 kilometres away in Melbourne.Dee Ninis says Gippsland has a significant history of earthquakes. (Supplied: Dee Ninis)Mr Pascale said Australia had the potential to register large earthquakes."We haven't recorded one of that magnitude [7], we've gotten into the high sixes before in Australia in the last 60-odd years that we've been doing the monitoring, but there is a potential for quite a large earthquake," he said.Earthquake lessonsVictoria's State Emergency Service will run earthquake drills in Gippsland in schools, workplaces and with community groups next week.Dubbed the Great Shake-Out, the event will teach people how to remain safe during an earthquake.Victoria SES assistant chief officer Cameron Rothnie said preparedness was key.Cameron Rothnie says Gippsland is well prepared for earthquakes. (Supplied)"We're promoting drills where people are encouraged to practice three safety steps if you feel the ground shaking, which is drop, cover and hold on," he said."Drop to the ground, cover your head and neck with your arms and move under a sturdy table or bench or other piece of furniture and hold on until the shaking stops."Mr Rothnie said the SES had been closely monitoring the aftershocks. "Aftershocks are likely to fade away from here, although we can't rule out another big one," he said."Gippsland is very well prepared for earthquakes."We have a really strong and robust regional earthquake plan … and we have increased staff availability this week and over the weekend."