Melbourne woke on Wednesday bracing for more riots and more coronavirus infections and deaths — for good measure, we got an earthquake, too.
About 9.15am, the earth started moving from inner-city Richmond to Yarrawonga in the state’s north. Every corner in the state seemed shaken and stirred.
Measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, the quake, centred about 10km under the Alpine region, was the biggest ever recorded in Victoria, and was followed in quick succession by three aftershocks in the next hour.
Across the city that will soon notch up a world record 267 days in lockdown, people grabbed pets and slowly walked out of their homes, peering around anxiously.
It was all just a bit spooky.
We haven’t had a serious earthquake since 2012, and yet the earth chose to shake us when the city was already grappling with three days of violent riots as an angry mob took over our streets and attacked police officers.
Around the time the quake struck, 628 new infections and three deaths were announced by health authorities.
Most of the damage seemed focused on the boutique and nightclub strip of Chapel Street in South Yarra.
The facades of one century-old building crumbled. The Betty’s Burger joint lost part of its roof. Chapel Street, with its clothing and other retail outlets, has been among the streets hardest hit by the pandemic and nine months of lockdowns.
Outlets have been shut for months, jobs have been lost and the once-vibrant street is fighting for its future. The street’s economy has been smashed by the pandemic and now one of its buildings has been smashed by an earthquake. Others sustained less damage.
As police and firefighters brought order to the scene, bewildered residents walked out of their single-fronted terraces and apartment towers, many on mobiles, assuring loved ones they were fine, with a “Can you believe it?”
By Wednesday afternoon, the crazies and thugs had occupied the Shrine of Remembrance. This is a sacred site in Melbourne, yet they seemed to revel in insulting the Anzac spirit, the police and the community in general.
The pandemic, lockdowns and riots have stretched the city’s emotions, sometimes almost to breaking point.
Intellectually, people may have understood Wednesday’s quake was just one of those WTF coincidental events, but that didn’t stop the city asking “What’s next?”
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