Adelaide residents had a sudden awakening in the early hours of Thursday morning, with reports quickly spreading of an earthquake sending shudders through the city and surrounding areas.
Geoscience Australia has confirmed that a 3.7 magnitude earthquake occurred at Murray Bridge, a town 70 kilometres east of Adelaide, at 12.08am.
While fairly low on the Richter scale, the earthquake was shallow, at a depth of only 8 kilometres.
Mag 3.7, Murray Bridge SA. 2 Feb 2017 00:08 (ACDT). Lat/Lon -35.15 139.16, Depth 8km. Info is preliminary. #eqaus https://t.co/xgBu3nCSsC
— EarthquakesGA (@EarthquakesGA) February 1, 2017
It was enough to rattle windows, shake homes and wake locals from their beds.
Independent earthquake monitor EMSC also confirmed the existence of seismic activity in the region, but noted that it was of too small a magnitude for accurate readings using global detection methods.
Map of the testimonies received so far following the #earthquake M3.7 Near Coast of South Australia 49 min ago pic.twitter.com/5FnASudQBc
— EMSC (@LastQuake) February 1, 2017
Waking up to a solid stone home thumping was freakin weird! #earthquake
— T-J (@lifesnotforall) February 1, 2017
#adelaide #earthquake woke me up 😨
— Mohit (@mohitpatter) February 1, 2017
Independent earthquake monitor EMSC also confirmed the existence of seismic activity in the region, but noted that it was of too small a magnitude for accurate readings using global detection methods.
The tremors are not an entirely new experience for Adelaide residents. In 2010 and 2011 the city experienced two earthquakes, measuring 3.4 and 3.8 in magnitude.
But the last truly destructive quake was more than 60 years ago. On 1 March 1954, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck in the middle of the night, causing millions of dollars in damage.
Awesome quake hits Adelaide: brushing my teeth and didn't have to brush - just stood still and let the quake do it for me. Win! #earthquake
— Broelman (@Broelman) February 1, 2017
Time to bring this back out? Who else felt that! #Adelaide #earthquake pic.twitter.com/0Aroj33dx8
— Ben Wells (@benwellstweets) February 1, 2017
ALSO ON HUFFPOST AUSTRALIA