Magnitude 3.8 earthquake rocks Adelaide with Mount Barker epicentre

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake, with an epicentre in Mount Barker, woke thousands across Adelaide this morning – and even caught one man in an unfortunate position.

South Australia’s early risers were caught with their pants down on Sunday morning, as a 3.8 magnitude earthquake cause rumbling and shaking across the state.

With Mount Barker as its epicentre at 7.20am, the earthquake caught a few people off guard.

While it may not have been strong enough to throw people off the loo, the quake was felt across Adelaide, from Gepps Cross and Kensington, to Ascot Park, Semaphore, Victor Harbor and Kersbrook.

Across SA, Geoscience Australia recorded over 12,000 reports of people feeling some form of tremor.

Margaret Modra, 76, of Aberfoyle Park, said she was caught on the toilet when the floor began to shake.

Margaret Modra was caught on the loo when the earthquake struck on Sunday morning. Picture: Dean Martin

“I had bare feet and the floor was suddenly shaking, then I heard the whole house sort of shaking,” Ms Modra said.

Ms Modra had lived in Papua New Guinea, where earthquakes were commonplace, and immediately knew she had felt tremors.

“It was just this odd feeling of it being in the floor, because I’d never felt it in the floor previously.”

“If I would have still been in bed, I don’t know that I would have noticed it.”

A man, who wished to be known as Karl, said he was caught in an unfortunate spot when the earthquake struck.

“I was on the loo and I heard this ongoing rumble,” Karl said

He said the rumble lasted about 10 seconds and shook the windows in the bathroom of his home, in one of Adelaide’s beachside suburbs.

“At first it sounded smooth and even and I thought it was thunder.”

A magnitude 2.5 aftershock was recorded about 9am and the quake was 10km deep.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Phil Cummins said the quake was “substantial”.

“An earthquake of this size is unlikely to cause substantial damage,” Mr Cummins said.

There have been reports of minor damage, particularly in the Adelaide Hills.

A map of earthquakes Seismological Association of Australia Inc has recorded in South Australia in recent times.

A map that shows the intensity of the quake across Adelaide. Picture: Geoscience Australia

Places where the quake was felt. Picture: EMSC

David Love, chief seismologist from Seismological Association of Australia Inc, said earthquakes frequently took place “through the Mount Lofty Ranges” with most not occurring on “any major fault lines”.

“The SAA locates about 400-500 earthquakes per year, mostly in the Flinders Ranges, but with some also being in the Mount Lofty Ranges,” said Mr Love.

The epicentre of the quake was a housing estate construction site at Aston Hills. All appeared quiet and undisturbed at the site.

Standing at a housing estate construction site at Aston Hills, the ground zero and epicentre for the #Adelaide #earthquake according to @GeoscienceAus. All appears to be quiet and undisturbed at this stage @theTiser pic.twitter.com/BXL1Dyu6Uf

— Patrick James (@PatJamesNews) March 5, 2022

Davis Nitschke from The Landing @ East Village felt the earthquake this morning. Picture: Keryn Stevens

David Nitschke, manager of The Landing @ East Village, a cafe adjacent to the epicentre, said he woke at home in Nairne to a sound that “shook the whole house”.

“To find out it was this close … it felt fairly severe,” he said.

The Bureau of Meteorology said there was no threat of tsunami following the quake.

No #tsunami threat to Australia from #earthquake felt in Adelaide and Mount Barker, South Australia (magnitude 3.8 near Mount Barker, SA). See https://t.co/Tynv3ZQpEq. pic.twitter.com/l9N37Q2OBP

— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) March 5, 2022

Was I dreaming about an earthquake or did Adelaide just have one?

— Anthony Alesiani (@anthonyalesiani) March 5, 2022

Wow Boom 💥 rumble - Adelaide Hills & state wide had an earthquake in the last 1/2 hour quite a rumble that’s the 1/3 rd one in 12 years

— MaggieBird (@Magpie1954nBird) March 5, 2022

Little early morning earthquake to get the day started #Adelaide

— Rob Cornthwaite (@robcornthwaite) March 5, 2022

Judging from Twitter, that earthquake was felt right across the Adelaide metropolitan area from Aldinga to Craigmore, and in the hills. Probably the second biggest I've felt in the last 30 years .

— Pete Turner (@pturn19) March 5, 2022

We were woken by an earthquake at 7.20am! Shook the house for a few seconds. #earthquake #adelaide

— Lou G (@liquorice_lou) March 5, 2022

We’re at Holden Hill #Adelaide and that #Earthquake was like a massive semi trailer drive down the road without the engine in it.
Scary.
Checked the plumbing and everything and now we’re reading all this. Kind of a relief 😅

— Jonathan Krantz (@Cypherage) March 5, 2022

It is the largest quake to occur within 30km of Adelaide in more than 10 years.

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded on October 19, 2011, in Adelaide’s south.

In 1954, Adelaide experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 which was 50 times larger than this morning’s events.