Magnitude 4.9 earthquake near Leongatha, Victoria

Page last updated: 9 October 2026

Home（https://www.ga.gov.au/home） Geoscience Australia（https://www.ga.gov.au） > News（https://www.ga.gov.au/news） > Magnitude 4.9 earthquake near Leongatha, Victoria（https://www.ga.gov.au/news/magnitude-49-earthquake-near-leongatha-victoria） Magnitude 4.9 earthquake near Leongatha, Victoria

Further aftershocks are possible

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 Geoscience Australia, 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.

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