Kyle Mackey-Laws of Bonner felt his house rattle and windows vibrate as what he and neighbours later recognised as an Earthquake Canberra event passed through the suburb. Geoscience Australia recorded the tremor near Boorowa, and the movement was felt across Canberra and much of south-east New South Wales.
Kyle Mackey-Laws in Bonner felt five-second shaking and a truck-like sound
Kyle Mackey-Laws said the episode lasted about five seconds at his home in Bonner. He described a noise like a massive truck moving slowly past and said one of the children in his house called out, “Guys, did you hear that? I am certain that was an earthquake” at 7: 10 pm ET. He checked online and saw confirmation that an event had been detected near Queanbeyan.
Earthquake Canberra recorded in Boorowa by Geoscience Australia
Geoscience Australia recorded a mid-4 magnitude earthquake with an epicentre in Boorowa, NSW, at 7: 09 pm ET. One set of official figures cited a 4. 4 magnitude at that time, while another dataset in the context placed the tremor at 4. 5 magnitude and noted it occurred shortly after 7: 09 pm ET on March 11. The largest town near the epicentre is Boorowa.
More than 3, 600 felt reports across Queanbeyan, Orange, Sydney and beyond
As of 7: 40 pm ET, Geoscience Australia had received more than 3, 600 felt reports related to the event, with responses coming from places including Queanbeyan, Orange, Sydney, Wagga Wagga and Bateman’s Bay. One resident said they received an Android alert about an earthquake 118 kilometres north of Queanbeyan. In Canberra, chandeliers shook at the National Press Club in Barton while University of Canberra vice-chancellor Bill Shorten was delivering a lecture.
Emergency services were monitoring the situation. The ACT Emergency Services Agency said about 7: 40 pm ET that ACT Fire and Rescue and the State Emergency Service had not received requests for assistance connected to the quake.
What people experienced and what comes next for those who felt it
People across the region described short, strong shaking. In Bonner, windows rattled. At the National Press Club in Barton, hanging fixtures moved during a public lecture. For now, the immediate follow-up noted in the context is the volume of felt reports and the check by local emergency services that no calls for help had been logged by 7: 40 pm ET.
By returning to a concrete detail: Kyle Mackey-Laws, who sat on his couch as the house shook and checked the time at 7: 10 pm ET, saw confirmation online that an earthquake had been detected near Queanbeyan. By 7: 40 pm ET, Geoscience Australia had received more than 3, 600 felt reports and the ACT Emergency Services Agency said its services had not received requests for assistance.
