Clarence Valley earthquake affects towns including Wooli, Minnie Water and Grafton

Communities in the Clarence Valley of northern NSW have expressed some rather humorous reactions after today’s unusual early morning tremor, which rippled through homes.

Clarence residents have reported being woken by the quake in the early of hours of the morning. ​

The earthquake which rumbled in the Clarence Valley early this morning was heard by some, but completely unnoticed by other residents, who were fast asleep.

Just after 2am, the region was struck by a relatively small 3.1 magnitude earthquake.

It is reported the earthquake occurred at exactly 2:09am, with a shallow depth of 10km.

Earlier, about 10pm on Wednesday, a bigger 4.3 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Queensland, impacting Cairns.

The epicentre of the Clarence earthquake was at Pillar Valley — about 24km southeast of South Grafton, according to Geoscience Australia.

Tremors and light shaking were felt by residents in South Grafton, as well as nearby coastal towns in the Clarence, including Wooli and Minnie Water.

Later on Thursday morning, Geoscience Australia had received more than 20 reports from people who felt the earthquake — with the number likely to rise as the day continues.

An earthquake was reported in the Clarence Valley.

Most reports come from small towns near Pillar Valley, but there are some reports stretching south to Corindi, Arrawarra and Woolgoolga.

In a strange coincidence, today’s earthquake occurred exactly 105 years after another earthquake rocked Grafton.

On June 8, 1918, The Daily Examiner reported an “earth tremor” in Grafton’s early hours.

“Grafton had the unusual experience of an earthquake shock about 4 o’clock this morning, when several distinct tremors, lasting altogether about half a minute, were felt,” the reporter wrote at the time.

Like today’s earthquake, the 1918 event was also mild, causing no major damage to the city or injuries.

The small coastal town of Wooli was one of the places where Thursday morning’s earthquake was felt by a number of people.

Wooli resident Matthew ‘Howie’ Howard, who runs the Wooli Wooli Cafe with his wife, said while his wife slept through the earthquake, he noticed it last night.

“I was semi-awake when it happened, and I was like ‘what the!’,” Mr Howard said.

“You could feel it ripple through the town and it sounded like thunder too.”

He said his first reaction was to check tsunami warnings, and later in the morning he referenced the earthquake in a funny note he wrote outside his cafe.

Wooli Wooli Cafe’s sign referencing the earthquake.

Another resident of the small coastal town of Wooli reported weak shaking.

“The house shook and woke us up,” the resident wrote.

While another resident reported: “(A) short duration with about three close waves, strong enough to wake us up.”

In Minnie Water, a small coastal Clarence town close to the earthquake’s epicentre, one resident said they felt rattling, very weak shaking and vibrating.

“(The) window shook and (the) noise (was) like a long roll of thunder.”

Originally published as Clarence Valley earthquake affects towns including Wooli, Minnie Water and Grafton