South Gippsland's third earthquake in the past month
GEOSCIENCE Australia reported an earthquake east of Dumbalk on Saturday night, May 9 at 6.12pm measuring 3.2MLa on the Richter Scale, the third tremor in the local area in the past month.
GEOSCIENCE Australia reported an earthquake east of Dumbalk on Saturday night, May 9 at 6.12pm measuring 3.2MLa on the Richter Scale, the third tremor in the local area in the past month.
The shake was felt over a wide area of South Gippsland, being located in an area between Dumbalk and Milford, longitude/latitude -38.63, 146.12, at a depth of 10 kilometres.
South Gippsland Shire Councillor, Cr Scott Rae, who lives in the area of the earthquake said he was at a function in Yanakie at the time, and did not feel the tremor, but said all of his neighbours reported feeling a decent shake.
“No, I didn’t feel it myself, but the dogs had been ratty all afternoon. They must have sensed something was coming,” said Cr Rae.
“We’ve had a string of these now. I hope that doesn’t mean there’s a bigger one coming.
The Seismology Research Centre registered a significant number of responses including 25 reports from Foster, 14 from Leongatha and nine in the Dumbalk-Dumbalk North areas.
Here’s a selection of their remarks:
- Felt it at the Foster Pub. Thought it was just kids running around.
- Yes, I live really close and felt a good shake over a couple of seconds.
- We felt it between Stony Creek and Dumbalk, no shaking, just a big rumble
- Yes, I felt it in Port Franklin. I felt it rumple right under the house. The house shook
- Felt it in Foster. The house shook and it sounded like a massive truck driving past
- Thought it was short burst of distant thunder here on Phillip Island. Checked BOM radar but nothing.
Locally there have been three tremors in the past month, as follows:
- April 15, 2026 – 1.9MLa Leongatha
- April 28, 2026 – 2.8MLa Dumbalk
- May 9, 2026 – 3.2MLa Dumbalk East
