'Strongest I’ve ever felt': Earthquake shakes Darwin
Darwin residents have been shaken up by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded the quake occurring in the Banda Sea, off the coast of Indonesia, on Monday about 1pm local time.
“That was an epic quake! Strongest I’ve ever felt,” one woman wrote on Facebook.
“Felt it here at Aurora resort Kakadu,” said another.
“Wow!! first earthquake I have ever felt, bounced around for about a minute here in Darwin River,” exclaimed one resident.
The ABC reported some parts of the CBD had been evacuated but no one was reported injured.
Residents as far south as Maningrida and Katherine reported feeling tremors.
The US Geological Survey said the massive quake was centred 208km below the earth's surface. It was felt in parts of Indonesia and in East Timor's capital Dili but there were no reports of damage.
Indonesia's geophysics agency said the deep quake did not cause a tsunami and the BOM confirmed that there was no tsunami threat to Australia.
‘Now that was scary’
Some residents took to Twitter to describe the moment the ground starting shaking beneath them with a number of locals describing the moment as “scary”.
I literally just ran out of the house, it was shaking so much. The local school, Moil, just announced an evacuation @abcdarwin #Darwin #nt
— DB 🤙🏾 (@dameyon) June 24, 2019
Now that was scary. According to the NT News fb page. 7.3 magnitude earth tremor was felt all over Darwin about 30 minutes ago. I was still at school in the office when we felt it. It was a very, very long tremor. The roar of it was very loud. Never felt one like that before.
— jenny agapito (@jennyagapito1) June 24, 2019
Thanks earthquake.
Cracked wall on the room and stairwell. #earthquake #darwin. @9NewsDarwin @abcnews @TheNTNews pic.twitter.com/ILbKYMczGo— most wanted (@mstwtd) June 24, 2019
Speaking to the NT News, resident Michael O’Brien recalled how the quake caught him with his pants down.
“I’m a little bit shocked. I was sitting on the loo and the loo started to vibrate and I thought ‘what the hell’s going on here’,” he recalled.
“Is there really any good time for it to come?”
Shops in Darwin’s CBD were temporarily closed and workers stood around in the street after office buildings were evacuated.
St John Ambulance said there were no reports of injuries.
Scenes in Darwin city as people evacuated from buildings after what’s believed to be an earthquake @abcdarwin pic.twitter.com/YaTVu3T6ld
— Sowaibah Hanifie (@SowaibahH) June 24, 2019
Significant earth tremor rocks Darwin for several minutes. The ATWS reports a 7.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded at 12.03pm in the Banda Sea @9NewsDarwin @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/YlYX3Fbt0V
— Kathleen Gazzola (@kathleengazzola) June 24, 2019
Those in northern Australia likely felt the worst of the quake, explained Brendan Duffy, a lecturer in Applied Geoscience at the University of Melbourne.
“The earthquake affects Darwin so badly because the seismic waves travel very efficiently through the continental crust that has slid beneath the volcanoes of eastern Indonesia,” he Tweeted.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location along the Pacific "Ring of Fire." A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most in Indonesia.
Rahmat Triyono, Indonesia's head of earthquake and tsunami centre, said the quake was followed by several smaller aftershocks, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.
With AAP
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