RESIDENTS from Blairgowrie to Frankston felt the shocks of the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that struck at 8.53pm yesterday.
The quake, which started in Moe, was felt as far away as Bright and Albury.
Windows rattled, crockery shook in the cupboards and items flew off shelves.
Rosebud resident Denise Ash said she heard rumbling noises before the house started shaking.
‘‘I looked at the dogs and then my chair felt like it was a massage chair,’’ she said.
‘‘It lasted about 30 seconds, I went up to the other end of the house and my husband had felt it as well.
‘‘It was definitely noticeable and we realised it must have been an earthquake.’’
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She said there was no damage to the house. ‘‘It was just a sensation like a truck was going past.’’
Mt Eliza resident Kathryn Smith said she was sitting in her office when everything started to vibrate.
‘‘I didn’t know what was going on, the water bottle and pen on my desk started shaking,’’ she said.
‘‘I was thinking - this must be an earthquake. It was quite exciting really. It lasted about 20 seconds.’’
Within minutes of the quake occurring people had swamped Facebook and Twitter with their own accounts of the quake.
There were some reports from Mornington school students who thought the world was ending.
Syke resident Melinda Bladier was left out of the action.
‘‘I didn’t feel it,’’ she said. ‘‘My mum was sitting on the couch and thought it was the washing machine.
‘‘My sister realised it must have been a tremor. Dad and I were in the kitchen and didn’t feel a thing.’’
Carrum Downs resident John Davidson said he knew something was up when his cat started shaking.
‘‘I thought my cat was having a seizure,’’ he said. ‘‘I heard this roaring noise and I thought it was an aeroplane flying really low then there was a crack and the house started shaking. When I got up this morning I noticed a crack in the wall.’’
Frankston South resident Tony Costanzo said he felt the house tremble and the glasses in his bar rattling.
‘‘A few items fell off the shelf but nothing was damaged.
‘‘It was a decent tremble though, you wouldn’t have wanted it to be much worse.’’
Only two homes on the peninsula reported minor damage, one at Pindari Street in Mt Martha for a cracked ceiling and the other in Seacombe Street in Dromana for damage to a structural weight-bearing beam.
Both homes had been attended to by the following morning.
Call lines for the SES were banked up by people reporting the earthquake rather than reporting damage.
SES spokesman Toby Borella said it was a reminder to keep the emergency services lines free to report damage.
‘‘We urge people not to call to report an earthquake,’’ he said.
Mr Borella said the SES received 420 calls within the first 15 minutes of the quake and 850 calls within the first hour.
‘‘We want to remind people these lines are for emergencies only and not for general information,’’ he said.
The emergency number for earthquakes is 132500 and for life threatening situations triple zero.