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June 20, 2012 06:56
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Earthquake shakes Melbourne, its biggest tremor in 100 years

The southern Australian state of Victoria has been shaken by more than 60 aftershocks since a magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit overnight.

Melbourne earthquakeEnlarge
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh ride on the royal tram down St Kilda Road on October 26, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia (Scott Barbour/AFP/Getty Images)
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The southern Australian state of Victoria has been shaken by more than 60 aftershocks since a magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit overnight.

The quake -- the biggest felt in the region in more than a century -- rattled Australia's second-biggest city, Melbourne, but its epicenter was around 85 miles away, near the town of Moe in Victoria's southeast.

The shallow earthquake struck at 8:53 p.m. local time. US seismologists initially reported a 5.2 quake near Melbourne, but GeoScience Australia later measured it at 5.5, and then revised it down to 5.3.

Geoscience Australia reported that its website crashed as people flocked online to find out what happened, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Moe police constable Chris Hand told the Australian Associated Press that he was enjoying a cup of coffee when it hit.

"I had the cup sitting on the table and it spilled over," he said.

"We've had a lot of calls but no one is reporting any damage or injuries at this stage. It was a decent-size rumble, the biggest I've ever felt. The ground moved for 15 to 20 seconds."

Anthony Atkin, duty manager at a hotel close to Moe, told The Age newspaper that he feared for his life when the quake hit.

"I thought the roof was going to fall down," he said. 

"Everyone in the hotel ran outside, it was like a train was coming through the hotel. I've been here for 44 years and never felt anything like it."

Stuff.co.nz pointed out that the Victoria quake was not as strong -- or damaging -- as the 5.6 quake that devastated central Newcastle in the state of New South Wales, immediately north of Victoria, in 1989.

More from GlobalPost: Flying sheep cause pile-up in Melbourne, Australia

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120620/earthquake-melbourne-victoria-australia-aftershocks

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