Earthquake hits Warrnambool, the south-west and most of south-east Australia

If you felt Wednesday's earthquake, you experienced the highest magnitude earthquake recorded in the state since Geoscience Australia's records began in the early 1900s.

It was also a less common type of earthquake, called a strike-slip earthquake where two parts of the fault slide hit horizontally against each other, rather than vertically.

"It's the largest earthquake we have on record for Victoria as far back as our records go," Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate said.

"There was a 5.7 near Mount Hotham in 1966 and that's probably the closest large earthquake to this one."

Mr Bathgate said on Wednesday afternoon that the magnitude had again been revised to 5.9 and the earthquake epicentre was roughly 40 kilometres south-west of Mansfield, in a remote area of the Victorian Alps.

He said several aftershocks were felt, including one with a 4.1 magnitude about 15 minutes after the main earthquake, which occurred at 9.15am.

"In total we've had six aftershocks ranging from 2.5 up to 4.1. There was a 3.5, 10 minutes after the main shock as well," Mr Bathgate said.

He said aftershocks and smaller tremors were to be expected and would continue for days and possibly even weeks.

"Generally the aftershocks tend to decrease in magnitude and frequency over time," he said. "They'll become smaller and less frequent as time goes on. That can be a number of days, if not weeks for it to completely die out."

"It was felt in Adelaide, Sydney, central New South Wales, Tasmania, pretty much through the south-east of the country which is fairly significant," he said.

"I don't think I've seen that since I've been working in earthquakes for the last 15 years so that's significant."

He said whether the earthquake was felt in various locations across the state, and the country, depended on the geological setting of the different areas.

"If you're in a place that's on hard rock, for example, you're going to feel it less than someone on softer sediments which will amplify the shaking,' Mr Bathgate said.

"That's probably why Melbourne felt it more strongly than some other places, it's in a sedimentary basin which would have amplified some of the shaking and the potential for damage as well. The more shaking there is the more potential there is for damage.

Whether it was felt also depended on the type of earthquake it was.

"From the analysis we've done we've concluded it's a strike-slip earthquake so it's two parts of the fault slide hitting horizontally against each other, rather than vertically. Depending on the orientation of the fault it may be felt more strongly in one direction than another."

"The other type of earthquake, where the two sides of the fault move vertically in relation to each other is called thrust faulting, where one side of the fault is thrust up over the other one, or normal faulting is where it drops down which is the most common type of earthquake we get in Australia.

"This one is a little bit different so it's interesting."

Warrnambool SES deputy controller Bernadette Northeast said while it received no calls for assistance or reports of damage in the Warrnambool area, people should be mindful of aftershocks.

"Aftershocks can occur for hours and several days after an earthquake," Mrs Northeast said. "If people feel something we advise they remain in their home or the building they're in at the time, preferably under a table.

"We say stop, drop and go and cover. Drop down low to the ground and take cover. People do note vases and things falling so you've got to protect yourself from falling objects, such as light fittings or plaster too.

"Almost always aftershocks are smaller than the main quake," she said.

"Anything they feel afterwards will always be smaller so we're less likely to feel them here, but people should be aware if something is damaged and it gets an extra shock, (it's more likely to fall).

She said anyone with building damage can contact the SES on 132 500.

At 11.50am:

Court houses around Victoria have been evacuated due to the earthquake and Warrnambool staff are waiting for an all-clear to return to work.

There are currently about 50 people outside the Warrnambool court house in Koroit Street, while others are near the intersection of Koroit and Henna streets.

Hearings scheduled in Warrnambool this morning were not expected to going ahead.

It's unknown when there will be an OK to return to work.

It's understood the same is happening at the Hamilton court house.

At 10.13am

Geoscience Australia has revised the magnitude of an earthquake that hit the south-west and much of south-east Australia from 6.0 to 5.8, with a depth of 10 kilometres.

Jo and Peter van de Camp were in their West Warrnambool home on Wednesday morning and wondered what had happened when one of their lights began swaying.

Mrs van de Camp said they didn't hear anything and it didn't feel like the house shook, later realising it was an earthquake they'd experienced.

"We were standing in the kitchen and noticed our three pendant lights were swinging quite significantly," she said. "I couldn't work it out because I couldn't feel a draught or anything."

Mrs van de Camp said their nine-year-old daughter Charlotte made a funny comment about it being evil spirits which she said they just laughed at and didn't think anything of.

"My friend from Geelong messaged to see if we'd felt anything and I said 'no' but then we quickly made the connection that that was the earthquake that we felt.

"The lights were swinging for a long time, it wasn't a quick thing," she said. "It was swinging for quite a while, it would have been a good 20 seconds."

Their two cats were also hiding in a corner in the bathroom which she said was really odd as well. "Maybe they knew something," she said.

The Standard readers commented on a Facebook post on Wednesday morning asking if they'd noticed the earthquake with Edward White saying he felt a "good shake in Portland", Adrian Rhook said it "rocked our van in Portland", Liz Formby said it was felt out at Ellerslie and Letty Rose said she also felt it in Terang.

EARLIER: 9.50am

Did the earth shake at your home this morning?

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 has been recorded at Mansfield at 9.16am with residents across the south-west reporting they'd felt a tremor.

South-west residents across Warrnambool, Camperdown, Portland reported feeling a substantial tremor.

Social media videos have also shown debris fallen from buildings in Melbourne's Chapel Street in Windsor when it hit.

There are reports of the quake being felt in areas including the Surf Coast, Melbourne and outer suburbs including Frankston, as well as Ballarat, Echuca, Yarrawonga, Shepparton.

A Geoscience Australia spokesperson said it had been felt across south- east Australia.

"It was felt in Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide too," she said.

"The seismologists are still getting the details of the quake."

MORE TO COME

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: