HOLBROOK residents have been put on notice of the potential for a severe earthquake in the region after a 2.1 magntitude tremor hit yesterday.
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The second quake in the area within a month had its epicentre near a quarry on the Hume Highway about eight kilometres north of the town.
The aftershocks were felt by locals in town.
Geoscience Australia seismologist Hugh Glanville said the quake could be the forerunner to something bigger and more destructive.
“We’ve had two in recent times and there is a chance there could be more,” he said.
“It could be leading up to a bigger one, but it is very unlikely.”
The biggest earthquake registered in the area was a 3.2 magnitude event in 1977, with a total of 15 in the past 100 years.
There have been four since 2010.
The latest epicentre was located near the Bald Hill Quarry, where a female office staffer thought a bad accident had happened on the freeway.
She heard a loud bang and feared the worst as a truck had just left the quarry.
“I checked to make sure they didn’t have a crash,” she said.
“It was the sort of noise made when there is a really bad accident.
“I wanted to make sure he got out onto the highway.
“Thankfully he did.”
She was working at her desk when the earthquake happened at 11.53am and ruled out a blast from the quarry, where other employees were working.
“We haven’t blasted for weeks,” she said.
Greater Hume mayor Heather Wilton lives in Holbrook and said she “felt and heard a loud bang”.
“I thought it must have been a truck hitting a pothole on one of our roads,” she said.
Mr Glanville said all previous earthquakes in the Holbrook area had been relatively small.
“They have all been in the magnitude one or two, which may be felt,” he said.
“It depends on how quiet people are, where they are sitting and how close they are to the epicentre whether they are heard or felt.
“Often magnitude two is only felt within five to 10 kilometres.
“At this stage there is no damage expected.”
He said more smaller earthquakes were being recorded in eastern Australia due to more detectors being installed.
“With a really small earthquake often you will get a crack or a bang,” he said.