Cause of powerful early-morning earthquake near Melbourne

Activity in a mine near Bendigo is responsible for a powerful earthquake that struck early on Tuesday morning.

The 3.5-magnitude tremor took place at 6.41am, according to Geoscience Australia, bout 45km northeast of Bendigo, near the town of Elmore.

Forestville Gold Mine near Bendigo about 20 minutes from Elmore said it recorded a 'mine-induced seismic event'.

'We understand (this) was felt by many in the surrounding community,' the company, which is Victoria largest gold producer, said.

'FGM are currently reviewing the event, and we will publish further details once they have been confirmed.'

Residents in Bendigo and as far away as Melbourne reported feeling light shakes, but nothing comparable to Victoria's largest recorded quake which hit in September 2021 at a significant 5.9 magnitude.

That quake, originating near Mansfield, caused building damage in Melbourne and was felt as far away as Canberra, Sydney , and Adelaide .

There have been more than a dozen earthquakes of magnitudes higher than three in the area since the 2021 event.

Aftershocks occurring years or decades after initial earthquakes were common, Prof Cummins said, and more could follow, explained Seismologist Phil Cummins.

'It's not unusual for large aftershocks to have their own aftershocks,' Prof Cummins said.

While Australia didn't have an active tectonic plate boundary like in New Guinea or New Zealand , stress from other boundaries slowly built up to the interior of the plate, eventually causing faults to fail.

'They just fail at a much lower rate than they would where near tectonic plate boundaries, where the strain rates are much faster,' he said.

The largest ever earthquake recorded in Australia was a 6.6-magnitude quake that struck Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory in January 1988.

On average 100 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or more are recorded in Australia each year.

An earthquake approaching magnitude 7.0 occurs somewhere in Australia every 100 years or so, according to the Seismology Research Centre.

'In active areas like Japan, Philippines or California, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 occur every few years,' it said.

'The activity in these places is restricted to a much smaller area than that of Australia, so a typical site may be within 50 km of a magnitude 7.0 event every 100 years or so.

'Earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 and larger are termed great earthquakes, and normally only occur at plate boundaries

'These are unlikely to ever occur within Australia. Earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 and larger will rupture faults for hundreds of kilometres, so usually only occur on subduction zones such as along the west coast of South America, or the south coast of Alaska.'