Force Awakened: A 3.2-magnitude earthquake shakes Crockwell

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The earthquake, represented by the orange dot above, occurred just before 2 a.m. on Friday. Photo: Geoscience Australia.

A 3.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded between Krokowell and Purowa in the early hours of the morning.

The earthquake occurred just before 2 am this morning (June 23).

Geoscience Australia’s chief seismologist Dr Jonathan Griffin said the organization had received several reports from residents.

“This is not a massive earthquake, but we have received 14 felt reports at Geoscience Australia.”

A number of people have reported being awakened by the earthquake, and also noticing the shaking and noise caused by the earthquake.

He said, “Some said they heard a sound like thunder or a bang of some kind.”

Although the vibrations and sounds may have woken people from their beds, Dr. Griffin said the reports fit with what would have been expected for an earthquake of this magnitude.

“All of this is very common for an earthquake as small as this,” he said.

“You may feel a short, sharp thud and a little bit of vibration – but generally it will only last a few seconds.

“When the waves reach the Earth’s surface, they enter the air and continue as sound waves — which is the audible noise — especially for these small, shallow events.”

The Southern Tablelands region has a “good historical record of earthquakes,” Dr. Griffin said.

“In the past ten years, within a hundred kilometers of where this particular earthquake occurred, there have been nine earthquakes of magnitude three or greater,” he said.

“There were also over 200 of all sizes, including the very young and some important people in the past.”

Dr Griffin said the largest recent earthquake was a magnitude 4 earthquake near Porowa in November 2022.

He said a magnitude of 3.2 is “pretty much” in line with a magnitude of 2 to 3 that the region tends to receive.

Dr Griffin said: Since Australia is in the middle of the Australian Plate, the country tends to experience few earthquakes.

“But at plate boundaries, which run around the plate from New Zealand and north through Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, there are collisions happening there,” he said.

“These collisions compress the Australian plate, compressing and crushing it and generating stresses within it.”

This, in turn, can lead to earthquakes, Dr. Griffin said.

“The NSW South East and Highlands is a place that we know gets some more earthquakes than other parts of the country.

“There have been a lot of small earthquakes in the area over the past years,” he said.

In the event that one experiences an earthquake, he recommends hiding under something solid, such as a table, to protect yourself from anything falling in the shaking.

He said, “Cover your head and hold on to something like a table leg to keep yourself steady in the event of a rocking.”

People can also submit a felt report via Geoscience Australia about what they observed during the earthquake.

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