We had an earthquake tonight...
We had an earthquake tonight... It was really quite freaky..
We were on the wharf having dinner, and it started to shake. And mums like “Oh a big boat must be coming in” and my dad, who is a ranger so he know all about the environment stuff, he was like “Nooo this is too big for a boat.” And then it stopped and dad was like “that was an earthquake”… And then the next thing you know we started moving again and this time like the whole building was swaying and the metal roll down doors were swinging back and forth and the lights were literally swinging soooo much.
And people started running out of the building, didn’t fancy the idea of being on a wharf in an earth quake but Dad was like “No, you gotta stay here” because apparently on the water is one of the safest places to be in an earthquake because you move with the earth quake, rather then being in a building which isn’t made to move and it risks it coming down on top of you!
There were things falling into the water, mum said that after, but somehow I didnt even notice. We were at a fancy resteraunt on the wharf and there were these huge marine fish tanks along the wall and I was looking at the fish being swished around (trust me to look at the animals in an emergency rather then looking at the things falling down around us haha). But yeah, there wasnt really a whole lot to fall down on us, because we were in the open air, outside the resteraunt in the outside dining area. But the wharf manager came up to us afterwards, I think he was just checking everyone was ok, and he said that in darwin city it was a hell of alot worse, so we are lucky we were on the water.
DARWIN has been rocked by an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, Geoscience Australia said tonight.
The government agency which measures earthquakes said the quake struck at 8.21pm (CST) or 9.51pm (AEDT).
Its epicentre was in the Banda Sea near Indonesia.
There were no immediate reports of damage but the quake was felt across the city and at least 140km from Darwin, Geoscience Australia spokesman Chris Thompson said.
"We've got a preliminary report of an earthquake ... of magnitude 7.5," he said.
"They are preliminary figures and we will be confirming that shortly."
Darwin resident Paul Dyer, who lives about 3km from the CBD, had just sat down on his couch at home when the earth began to shake.
"I'm in a ground-level house and the house was shaking like there's no tomorrow," he told AAP.
"I was sitting on the couch and could feel the ground shaking.
"It was pretty full-on, there's bound to be some structural damage somewhere."
ABC reporter Lindy Kerin, who was at work at the time, said: "It was a bizarre feeling. I had a glass of water on my desk (at work) and it was wobbling."
Ms Kerin said some of her colleagues sheltered under door frames, considered the sturdiest part of a structure in the event of an earthquake or cyclone.
A receptionist from the Mirambeena Resort in Darwin said: "There were three separate tremors, two little ones and then a big one" but there was no damage.
"We're on the ground floor and it shook a fair bit for a couple of minutes," she said, adding that "everyone is going about their business".
"Every guest in the venue felt it, the phones were going hot for a while ... everyone's having a laugh about it now."
He said once staff were told the quake occurred in the sea they pointed a camera on the beach "just in case".
"We had two good shakes. Probably the best shakes we've had," Mr Doyle said.
"It moved the building we're in and it's certainly got the town talking but there's no truth to the rumour that it was caused by Prince Charles putting $200 on the bar in Alice Springs."
We were on the wharf having dinner, and it started to shake. And mums like “Oh a big boat must be coming in” and my dad, who is a ranger so he know all about the environment stuff, he was like “Nooo this is too big for a boat.” And then it stopped and dad was like “that was an earthquake”… And then the next thing you know we started moving again and this time like the whole building was swaying and the metal roll down doors were swinging back and forth and the lights were literally swinging soooo much.
And people started running out of the building, didn’t fancy the idea of being on a wharf in an earth quake but Dad was like “No, you gotta stay here” because apparently on the water is one of the safest places to be in an earthquake because you move with the earth quake, rather then being in a building which isn’t made to move and it risks it coming down on top of you!
There were things falling into the water, mum said that after, but somehow I didnt even notice. We were at a fancy resteraunt on the wharf and there were these huge marine fish tanks along the wall and I was looking at the fish being swished around (trust me to look at the animals in an emergency rather then looking at the things falling down around us haha). But yeah, there wasnt really a whole lot to fall down on us, because we were in the open air, outside the resteraunt in the outside dining area. But the wharf manager came up to us afterwards, I think he was just checking everyone was ok, and he said that in darwin city it was a hell of alot worse, so we are lucky we were on the water.
DARWIN has been rocked by an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, Geoscience Australia said tonight.
The government agency which measures earthquakes said the quake struck at 8.21pm (CST) or 9.51pm (AEDT).
Its epicentre was in the Banda Sea near Indonesia.
There were no immediate reports of damage but the quake was felt across the city and at least 140km from Darwin, Geoscience Australia spokesman Chris Thompson said.
"We've got a preliminary report of an earthquake ... of magnitude 7.5," he said.
"They are preliminary figures and we will be confirming that shortly."
Darwin resident Paul Dyer, who lives about 3km from the CBD, had just sat down on his couch at home when the earth began to shake.
"I'm in a ground-level house and the house was shaking like there's no tomorrow," he told AAP.
"I was sitting on the couch and could feel the ground shaking.
"It was pretty full-on, there's bound to be some structural damage somewhere."
ABC reporter Lindy Kerin, who was at work at the time, said: "It was a bizarre feeling. I had a glass of water on my desk (at work) and it was wobbling."
Ms Kerin said some of her colleagues sheltered under door frames, considered the sturdiest part of a structure in the event of an earthquake or cyclone.
A receptionist from the Mirambeena Resort in Darwin said: "There were three separate tremors, two little ones and then a big one" but there was no damage.
"We're on the ground floor and it shook a fair bit for a couple of minutes," she said, adding that "everyone is going about their business".
"Every guest in the venue felt it, the phones were going hot for a while ... everyone's having a laugh about it now."
He said once staff were told the quake occurred in the sea they pointed a camera on the beach "just in case".
"We had two good shakes. Probably the best shakes we've had," Mr Doyle said.
"It moved the building we're in and it's certainly got the town talking but there's no truth to the rumour that it was caused by Prince Charles putting $200 on the bar in Alice Springs."