Earthquake strikes near Adelaide

An earthquake has struck on the coast of South Australia, measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale.

The quake struck the Mount Compass area, about 70km south of Adelaide, at 12:13pm on Monday (local time), with reports of tremors felt at least 50km away.

Residents of Morphett Vale, 50km northwest of Mount Compass, took to Facebook to report tremors, along with residents of Trott Park and Currency Creek.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate told Yahoo7 the event is not uncommon for the region.

“Within 100km of this quake there’s been almost 50 earthquakes in the past 30 years,” he said.

“The furthest report that we got is roughly 40km away. It was felt as far north as Hallet Cove and Blackwood.”

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A magnitude 3.0 earthquake is often reported as a “loud boom and then a jolt”, Mr Bathgate said.

“Often people mistake it for a passing truck or something like that.”

Mr Bathgate said he was not aware of any damage caused by the quake, and it is unlikely any aftershocks will be felt.