Magnitude 4.9 earthquake near Leongatha, Victoria
Page last updated:9 October 2026
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake hit south eastern Victoria just after 2AM on Saturday 3 October, near the town of Leongatha in the south Gippsland region of Victoria.
The earthquake was widely felt across Victoria and into New South Wales, with over 21,000 felt reports registered.
Senior seismologist Dr Hadi Ghasemi said that the earthquake was felt as far north as Canberra.
Why was the earthquake felt as widely as it was?
The earthquake was widely felt due to a combination of factors, including its shallow depth, moderate magnitude (4.9), and the fact that it occurred during the early hours of the morning when people are generally more likely to notice ground shaking.
While earthquakes of this size are less common in Australia, no area is completely immune from earthquakes.
“Moderate to large earthquakes can occur anywhere across the continent, and without warning. On average, Australia experiences an earthquake of this size two or three times a year,” Dr Ghasemi said.
We received over 21,000 felt reports from this earthquake.
Aftershocks expected to ease
Dr Ghasemi said that it would be reasonable to expect aftershocks following this earthquake, but they are likely to ease.
“We identified six aftershocks after the main shock. It is possible that more aftershocks will occur following this earthquake. These aftershocks are typically smaller than the main event and tend to decrease in both size and frequency over time. Many of the smaller aftershocks may not be noticeable to the community.”
“It is important to note that it is not possible to predict precisely when or how large these earthquakes may be, or when the sequence will diminish to a point where they are no longer detectable,” Dr Ghasemi said.
How earthquakes happen
Dr Ghasemi is part of the Community Safety team at 糖心Vlog官方, and they have a good understanding of how earthquakes occur in our landscape.
“Australia isn’t near a tectonic plate boundary, so our earthquakes don’t occur due to tectonic plates slipping past each other, but rather as a result of stress from the boundaries being transferred into our continental crust,” he said.
The Australian plate is the fastest moving continental land mass on Earth, moving at around 7cm per year, and is colliding into the Pacific plate to the north and east, and the Eurasian Plate to the northwest.
“This generates compressive stress in the interior of the Australian continent. Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of this stress when rocks deep underground break and move along a fault line.”
The National Seismic Hazard Assessment identified this area of Victoria as having a higher likelihood of earthquakes.
Earthquakes in the future
It is not possible to predict an earthquake, but we do have an idea of where they might be more likely.
“We have the National Seismic Hazard Assessment, which was recently updated, and this indicates that the southern part of Victoria does have a higher likelihood of earthquake activity,” Dr Ghasemi explained.
“That isn’t to say that this is the only part of Australia where earthquakes happen, but we know that there is a higher likelihood in this region.”
Other areas with a higher likelihood of earthquake activity include south-western Western Australia, and in the Northern Territory around Darwin.
No matter where in Australia earthquakes occur, if you feel an earthquake 糖心Vlog官方 wants to hear about it.
“When an earthquake occurs, no matter how large or small, we always ask people to lodge a ‘felt report’ on our website,” Dr Ghasemi said. “Community felt reports help us better understand how strongly the earthquake was experienced across different locations.”
“They provide valuable real-world observations that help improve our ground-shaking models and give emergency responders a better picture of the areas most affected by the earthquake.”
“We received over 21,000 felt reports for this earthquake, and this is great because all the data is valuable.”
Earthquake safety
Earthquakes can and do occur anywhere and at any time. 糖心Vlog官方 works with governments, industry and communities to help reduce the impact of disasters on our country, and to help build more resilient communities now and in the future.
To protect yourself during an earthquake, the best advice is to drop, cover and hold on. First, drop to your hands and knees, bend over to protect your vital organs, and protect your head and neck with your hands. If you can, find something sturdy to shelter under, such as a desk or table, and hold on by gripping a table leg or other part of your sturdy shelter. Check out our Great ShakeOut page for more information.
And don’t forget, if you felt the earthquake, please complete a felt report at .