Earthquake with 4.6 Magnitude Strikes Hunter Valley Region
Once again, New South Wales’ Hunter Valley region was hit by an earthquake, with tremors felt as far as Canberra.
Early in the morning, residents of the Hunter region in New South Wales experienced a 4.6 magnitude earthquake that originated from Singleton and spread to areas like Taree, Wollongong, Sydney, and even Canberra.
Geoscience Australia detected the quake on April 23, noting that it struck 10 kilometres below Singleton near Newcastle. By 8 a.m., 3,654 people had reported feeling the earthquake, with reports of effects on some high rises in Sydney.
Phil Cummins, a senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia, described the earthquake as significant, considering it to be quite large for Australia. He mentioned previous significant earthquakes in the region, like the Ellalong earthquake in 1994 and the Newcastle earthquake in 1989.
In 2024, the Hunter Valley region also experienced a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that caused power outages and water supply issues. Following this, a 4.5 magnitude quake hit the region the next day.
Over the past 12 months, the Hunter Valley region has encountered a total of 11 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or higher. These Australian earthquakes typically occur due to the tectonic stress in the Earth’s plates, which can be triggered from great distances, leading to the sudden release of energy in the form of an earthquake.
