Earthquake measuring 2.8 at Mount Barker shakes Adelaide

A quake detected at Mount Barker has rattled householders across Adelaide with several saying it felt like a truck had hit their home – and experts believe more could be on the way.

Thousands of South Australians were shaken up on Tuesday night after a new earthquake traced to Mount Barker – and an expert says it may not be the last.

The 2.9 magnitude quake was detected at a depth of 20 kilometres at 7.04pm Tuesday, according to Geosciences Australia.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate said they received 1400 reports within about 30 minutes of the incident.

“It’s certainly been felt across the southeast area of the city,” he said.

“This area of Australia really is probably one of the more active areas of the country.”

Mr Bathgate said earthquakes were rarely singular events and often occurred in groups.

While Tuesday’s earthquake may have been confused for a low-flying plane by some, people near the epicentre were quick to share their experiences on Twitter.

One said they had “felt it in Mount Barker, it sounded like a thunderstorm but the house shook.”

Another added that the quake felt like a truck ploughing into their house.

One woman said similar on Facebook, saying: “The whole house shook, it sounded like a road train was coming through”.

Another woman asked whether anyone else had felt the quake.

“I’m in Mt Barker and was convinced that a truck had just slammed into my house or something!” she said.

A Geoscience Australia map showing Mount Barker earthquakes in the past 30 day. Picture: Geoscience Australia

The red dot shows the location of Tuesday’s earthquake while the others show the locations of previous earthquakes in the past decade. . Picture: Geoscience Australia

“Particularly these earthquakes around the twos and threes are quite common,” he said.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if we get more earthquakes over the next few days and weeks.”

When compared to the other state capitals, Adelaide has the greatest exposure to “neotectonic faults”, with more than a dozen known fault lines within 50km of the city.

The earthquake’s epicentre was the south side of Mt Barker and was widely felt from Victor Harbor to Gawler.

The largest known earthquake in the area happened in 1883 which had a magnitude 4.5.

Adelaide has recorded five minor quakes in the last month, but often they can go unnoticed by the public.

Trying to nap and I’m woken by yet another earthquake 🥲 Adelaide let me sleep please #adelaide#earthquake

— lex (@lexdats) March 29, 2022

another tremor!

felt like a REALLY BIG TRUCK thundering past#earthquake#Adelaide

— Andrew Helgeson (@cyberteque) March 29, 2022

Another earthquake in Adelaide - loud rumble and a bit of shaking here - kind of hoping that this settles down.

— David Hunter (@idmonfish) March 29, 2022

The quake comes just three weeks after Mount Barker was rocked by a 3.8 magnitude earthquake which was also felt across the region and Adelaide’s suburbs.

Dr Trevor Allen from Geosciences Australia told The Advertiser last October that “a large earthquake, up to or exceeding magnitude 6.5 on one of these faults, might occur somewhere between every 5000 to 10,000 years.”

Mr Bathgate said “it is always good for people to keep in mind what to do if there is a larger earthquake with a lot of associated shaking.”

“The advice is to drop, cover and hold. So drop to the floor and get under something solid, hold onto it until the shaking stops, then move outside of the building when it’s safe to do so.”