BULAHDELAH woke to an earthquake at 7.50am on Tuesday, 16 September.
The earthquake occurred about two kilometres southwest of Bulahdelah at an initial depth of about 10.4 kilometres below the epicentre (surface), as reported by Geoscience Australia.
The quake registered a magnitude of 3.1 on the Richter scale.
The quake was felt from Nelson Bay up to Forster and inland to Maitland, with Geoscience Australia collecting around 100 felt reports across the Hunter and lower Mid North Coast regions.
Local resident Kerry Porter was working at Bulahdelah Bowling Club when the quake struck.
“We thought a huge truck had slammed into the club but we checked and no truck was visible “said Ms Porter.
“I gripped my work desk at the time not knowing what it was.”
Many residents reported that it sounded like a bomb exploding and that it shook their houses.
Others thought it was a truck or an accident on the highway.
Bulahdelah was one of three areas reporting earthquakes in the previous nine-hour period, with one occurring in the mid-west of NSW and the other at Muswellbrook.
No reports of structural damage in Bulahdelah have been reported.
On average, Australia experiences about 100 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more each year, while earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 only happen about once every two years.
Stronger earthquakes exceeding magnitude 6 only happen about once per decade in Australia.
By John SAHYOUN
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