It appears Victoria has escaped major damage after an earthquake struck the state's south-east on Tuesday night.
The quake hit just before 9:00pm (AEST), with the epicentre near Moe in west Gippsland, about 120 kilometres south-east of Melbourne.
Geoscience Australia says the 5.3 quake had a depth of about 10km and rumbled through Melbourne and communities including Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Shepparton.
People have reported hearing a roaring noise, with reports of cracks occurring in the walls and floors of homes.
Victoria Police said they had received a number of calls in relation to the tremor, but there were no reports of major damage.
The Federal Minister responsible for insurance, Bill Shorten, says he understands it is the biggest earthquake in the area "in 109 years".
He says it will take some days to determine the full extent of the damage but in the meantime personal safety should be the priority.
The Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) said they received 40 requests for assistance in the broader Gippsland area and parts of Melbourne.
The SES's Lachlan Quick says most of the requests for assistance came from areas near the epicentre.
"Most of those look like minor house damage. Cracked walls, cracked ceilings, I believe I've had one garage collapse," he said.
"We've also had some incidences of gas leaks which are a bit of a concern and we've urged people on those situations to vacate the premises until those situations have been rectified."
Seismologist David Jepsen says there have been some aftershocks of around magnitude 3.5 near the epicentre.
He says the initial quake was close to the earth's surface.
"[It was a] shallow earthquake. That's why people felt it so strongly," he said.
"You do get the rolling because you get the surface waves that get generated that people can feel quite strongly."
ABC reporter Hamish Fitzsimmons spoke with a number of residents in a pub near the epicentre who say glasses crashed to the ground.
We have spoken to people in Moe and there are reports of things like supermarket shelves falling down and things coming off supermarket shelves.
I spoke to the people in the Moe pub and they said glasses and bottles had come down. There was a pool competition going on there, and a woman I spoke to said she thought that the pool players may have thought they had been going at it a bit long. But there have been no injuries reported so far.
There was one incident - we spoke to the ambulance service - someone was unlucky enough to be on a ladder at the time of the earthquake and they fell off.
Houses 'vibrating'
Some Melbourne residents have also reported seeing windows shaking during the tremor.
Graham Miller, a resident in Heathmont in Melbourne's east, says it was the biggest earthquake he has ever felt.
"The most severe earthquake that I would say we've experienced at Heathmont in 60 years to my knowledge," he said.
"The shaking continued for about 45 seconds, and my whole house was vibrating visibly."
Shannon Starab McGill, a resident in Badger Creek, north-east of Melbourne, also felt the quake.
"Shook the heck out of the house and the kids woke up quite startled! Yikes!" he wrote on Facebook.
Professor Mike Sandiford of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne says it is an unusual event.
"It was a significant shaking event. We don't often get earthquakes which shake much of Melbourne," he said.
"Every few years we have an earthquake which tends to be to the south east of Melbourne in Gippsland which impacts the eastern suburbs.
"Shaking the eastern suburbs and even more rarely gets to the city centre."
The Federal Government says most home, building and contents insurance covers earthquake damage but individuals should check their policies.
Mr Shorten says insurers should exercise diligence and compassion.
"I've been in touch with the insurance council since the earthquake occurred. The Insurance Council of Australia has advised me unambiguously that home and contents insurance policy does cover for earthquake damage," he said.
- ABC News
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