Quake shakes people awake across Geelong, leaves pub with big mess

An Otways pub was left with a big clean-up after the earthquake that rocked the region in the early hours of Sunday.

An early morning earthquake woke people up around the region. Picture source: Geoscience Australia

An Otways pub was left with a big clean-up after the earthquake that rocked the region in the early hours of Sunday.

The SES said the 5.0 magnitude earthquake happened near Colac at 2.11am, with the temblor waking people up across Geelong as it rattled homes.

Adam Pascale, chief scientist at the Seismology Research Centre, said while Colac was the largest nearby town, the epicentre was in the Otway Ranges.

“Wherever you’ve got mountains you’ve got earthquakes,” he said.

He said this was the largest onshore earthquake on record in that area.

Geoscience Australia had received more than 7700 “felt reports” just after 1.30pm Sunday.

People as far away as Tasmania’s King Island, in the Bass Strait, reported to the agency that they felt the earthquake.

Damage at the Beechy Hotel in Beech Forest. Picture: Facebook

Gwynneth Cowley, owner and manager at The Beechy Hotel in Beech Forest, checked the pub immediately after the earthquake.

“It was really, really scary, I thought someone was ram raiding the pub,” she said.

At first the damage seemed minimal – a few things had fallen over and a single stubby smashed.

But after the sun was up, a neighbour let her know a concrete water tank had collapsed, falling into pieces.

“The concrete was everywhere,” she said.

“It just blew apart.”

Locals came to help with the clean-up.

The pub still has water supply from another tank, but the incident saw its gas system damaged.

It has been closed due to its chef being on holidays, and is set to reopen on Wednesday, dependent on the gas being repaired.

“It shouldn’t affect our ability to trade,” Ms Cowley said.

Damage at the Beechy Hotel in Beech Forest. Picture: Facebook

“It’s not a huge disaster, it could be worse.”

Other people suffered damage at properties in the Otways township too, she said.

In Geelong, Jacklyn Foster posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the “bed shook us awake”.

“Windows creaking, curtains shaking,” she said.`

“I was terrified.”

Meg Rayner posted that she was in Apollo Bay and up with her baby when the earthquake hit.

“I’ve never felt anything like that,” she wrote.

She said she thought the house was going to fall down.

Andy Weatherall posted on X that he “thought the house was coming down” in Armstrong Creek.

The State Emergency Service said the earthquake had resulted in little damage.

An aftershock with a magnitude of 3.5 happened at 5.44am, it said.

Mr Pascale said it was expected aftershocks would probably continue for months after an earthquake of that size, but most would not be noticeable.

This was Victoria’s largest earthquake since a 5.9 magnitude event southeast of Mansfield that was felt around Victoria in 2021, he said.

The SES warned that aftershocks could occur, and if this happened, advised people to drop to the ground, take cover by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture, and hold on until the shaking stops.

Barwon Health was not aware of any presentations related to the earthquake.

Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were not called to any incidents where people were injured in the event.

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Originally published as Quake shakes people awake across Geelong, leaves pub with big mess