SINGLETON and Muswellbrook residents believed they felt an earthquake on Monday night.
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And, they weren’t wrong.
According to Geoscience Australia, a 2.7 magnitude earthquake occurred at Jerrys Plains at 21:28:08 (AEST), at a depth of 0km.
Not long after that, there was a 2.6 magnitude earthquake at Muswellbrook with a depth of 0km.
The Muswellbrook earthquake occurred at 21:55:18 (AEST).
Duty Seismologist Marco Maldoni at Geoscience Australia said it looked as though there had been a series of aftershocks.
In regards to there being further earthquakes, he said the occurrence of an earthquake increased the chance of there being another.
“It’s likely that we’ll see further activity over the next few days or weeks,” he said.
However, he said if that was the case, they would most likely be a similar size to the ones felt on Monday night.
“You need to look at the past to get an idea of the statistics,” he said.
“It’s very likely that any further activity will be [in] that order.
“More often than not it’s a case that you are going to get similar sized earthquakes.”
Mr Maldoni said looking over the past 30 years, there has been roughly just over two earthquakes per year in that area of the Hunter Valley.
The two Monday night earthquakes caused Geoscience Australia to receive in excess of 50 reports from the public.
Mr Maldoni said the common thread for reports seemed to be that there was no damage, but the house was shaking and windows rattling.
“[There were] some people reporting a rumble which is typical for earthquakes,” he said.
“These are minor earthquakes as far as earthquakes are concerned.”
Mr Maldoni said Geosciene Australia always welcomes public reports about earthquakes.
To report an earthquake, visit http://www.ga.gov.au/earthquakes/staticPageController.do?page=felt-earthquake and follow the relevant links.