11 ms·

Earthquake in Melbourne, Australia (9.15 AM 22nd Sep 21, AEST)

73 points by jp0d 5y ago

wizzledonker 5y ago
Felt this as far away as Wagga Wagga, NSW. It's insane how far these things travel, and especially a shock in a place like Australia where Geological activity is so low. We're just not used to this kind of thing
- shirro 5y ago
  Never knew how far earthquakes travelled. I guess everyone else on the planet knows but I didn't realise you could feel them in a different state until today. And this wasn't even a big one compared to what they get all the time in places like NZ or Japan. Nature is awesome.
- monkeycantype 5y ago
  A medical researcher I study with though she was experiencing the onset of Parkinson's
kadoban 5y ago
Looks far enough away to not have caused anything too serious in Melbourne. Is there anything much closer to the epicenter there that would be harder hit? The few early news articles I can find seem to confirm not much serious damage in Melbourne.
- JanisL 5y ago
  Not much damage in Melbourne, at least so far (hopefully nothing bigger happens, this comment is a couple of hours since the main shock). A few poorly built brick walls have toppled in some places but that's about all.
- retsibsi 5y ago
  There are some towns nearby. Worst I've heard of so far is broken windows, cracked ceilings and the like. Definitely some potential for injury, but I haven't heard of anyone significantly hurt.
- anotherevan 5y ago
  The epicentres were close to Mansfield[1] which is a town of about 4,800. According to State Emergency Services (SES) reports in the news, they've had a bit over 100 requests for assistance, largely related to minor structural damage to chimneys and facades of buildings. If you search twitter for "Chapel Street" you can probably find some footage of a wall collapse. Nothing too serious all in all as far as I can tell. No reports of injuries that I've heard. While there are plenty of small tremors in Australia that usually go unnoticed, ones that are widely noticeable let-alone alarming are quite rare. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield,_Victoria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield,_Victoria
arawde 5y ago
Event page on USGS https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000fd9v/executive https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000fd9v...
JanisL 5y ago
I think there's some important context here for people reading this from overseas, geologically Australia is extremely stable as its far from any tectonic plate borders and there's very few large earthquakes here. This quake is one of the largest to happen here. Many people here have never experienced the sort of whole building shaking type of experience we just had.
- davidjohnstone 5y ago
  According to Wikipedia's list[1], it's the strongest earthquake Australia has had since 1997, and that one was in a remote part of Western Australia. "A Seismologist tells @abcmelbourne it’s the biggest earthquake Victoria has experienced since European settlement" [2] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Austral... 2. https://twitter.com/bridgerollo/status/1440467927140999174 https://twitter.com/bridgerollo/status/1440467927140999174
- rd07 5y ago
  Well, that's new knowledge for me. Especially knowing that in its northern neighbor, Indonesia, there is an earthquake somewhere in its region.
  - JanisL 5y ago
    Have a look at some maps of plate tectonics. The huge Australian plate collides with the Sunda plate along a boundary which is much closer to Indonesian landmasses compared to the Australian ones.
Khaine 5y ago
Also discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28611456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28611456
Khaine 5y ago
The Australian plate is the fastest moving continental land mass on Earth and is colliding into the Pacific plate to Australia's north and east, and the Eurasian Plate to the northwest. This generates mainly compressive stress in the interior of the Australian continent, which is slowly building up across the plate as it moves northeast about 7 cm per year. Australia's earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of this stress when rocks deep underground break and move along a fault line. While some parts of the country are more likely to experience earthquakes than others, large earthquakes can occur anywhere across the continent, and without warning. On average 100 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more are recorded in Australia each year. Earthquakes above magnitude 5.0, such as the destructive 1989 Newcastle earthquake, occur on average every one-to-two years. About every ten years Australia experiences a potentially damaging earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or more such as the magnitude 6.5 Meckering earthquake in October 1968.
- hilbert42 5y ago
  With those facts, I'm surprised that we don't have larger quakes. I remember the Newcastle one, my parents' home had its roof damaged in it. I also recall a rather strong one in the Blue Mountains when I was a kid but can't remember exactly when it was (sometime in the early to mid 1960s if I recall correctly). I think is was on a Saturday in the AM, and I definitely do recall having difficulty walking across my bedroom whilst it was occurring.
  - CommieBobDole 5y ago
    Maybe the 1961 NSW earthquake? Though that one was on a Monday morning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_New_South_Wales_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_New_South_Wales_earthquak... Wikipedia has a whole list of significant Australian earthquakes, if that's not it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Austral...
    - hilbert42 5y ago
      Ha, right, thanks for that. It must have been the Monday as that's around the date as best I can remember and the time in the morning seems right too (it's been a while now and the grey cells are loaded with superfluous junk). ;-) At the time the quake began I was still in bed (being a Monday I should have been up a getting ready for school - perhaps it was school holidays and that's why I thought it was a Saturday, I must check that up later). I'm almost certain that I was asleep when it started and it woke me up (more evidence for school hollidays?). Initially I was confused and wondered where the almighty noise and rattling-type vibrations were coming from. My first reaction was that it was a jackhammer and the Council was digging up the street (an all too common occurrence as the asbestos cement water pipes broke frequently (yes, you read correctly, they were asbestos) - but all the noise and action seemed too localized to be in the street. I immediately jumped out of bed and tried to run across the bedroom (a very large room that I shared with my brother) and traversing the room was a bit of a task as my feet were slipping from under me. Even though I'd never experienced an earthquake previously it was immediately obvious to me what was going on by the time I was about one half meters from my bed. Being a techie even back then, as soon as I'd figured it out I stopped and watched everything that was happening - 'roof' dirt coming down from the cornice after it had separated from the wall, the clothes cupboard door rattling like crazy and the floor boards bouncing to the extent that it was difficult to walk (but standing still was OK). I wasn't the slightest bit scared even the moment when I realized what was happening, if anything I had a kid's excitement of a new experience. I didn't try to escape out of the room either (methinks not a good move in hindsight), I simply watched from the center of my room until it was over. It's hard to be accurate about the quake's duration but I'd guess it was about 30 second, perhaps even 40 but that's unlikely as time dilates in circumstances like that. . From the docs, I reckon I was about 90km from the epicenter. Similarly, the Wiki list of quakes is fascinating, I never realized there were that many. I've never thought to look up the details previously as it hasn't been in the forefront of my mind until now. It's been an interesting experience down memory lane.
gmurphy 5y ago
Like most of the earthquakes I felt in the bay area, I spent most of it thinking it was an unbalanced dryer in the final stages of its cycle. It roughly felt equivalent to the 2014 Napa Quake (which was also a 6). For normally geologically-quiet Melbourne, however, this would be the strongest quake ever recorded.
NoPicklez 5y ago
We will rebuild Picks up fallen picnic chair
- getmoheb 5y ago
  first hand report from 600km away: my windows rattled, briefly, and i swayed ever so slightly on my chair.
  - cheesecake_luvr 5y ago
    From Brisbane: my right eyebrow was raised when I heard about it.
    - NoPicklez 5y ago
      Wasn't sure if the earth moved or my stomach grumbled
  - Johnythree 5y ago
    Traralgon here: Started as a rumbling, then changed to low frequency shaking. Was quite scary. No damage here, but lot of junk fell over in the kitchen.
- chrismorgan 5y ago
  I grew up with an anecdote along the lines of that in the 60s or 70s there’d been one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded in Australia, and the total property damage had been that one cow shed fell over, because that’s how empty much of Western Australia or Northern Territory is. The anecdote may be slightly exaggerated for comedic effect, but it’s also probably not far off the truth.
vmception 5y ago
5.9
peanut_worm 5y ago
Huh I didn’t think Australia had earthquakes
- senectus1 5y ago
  not very often no. we're geologically very stable. (but also as a whole continent moving quite a lot)
- shirro 5y ago
  We don't get big ones with high frequency as we are not on a tectonic boundary. No active volcanoes either. There are faults and stresses within the continental plate but they mainly produce smaller earthquakes with lower frequency but they do happen. Given the population density people rarely feel them. So even a moderate quake is a huge novelty. I can understand why people are so excited and sharing it on social media. I am probably about 700km away and I only barely felt it and it might be the only earthquake I feel in my entire life.
- notriskfree 5y ago
  Macron stamps his feet and this happens. You better watch out down there.
robertwt7 5y ago
I was cooking pancake before my stand up meeting, then the floor was just shuffling at the apartment. Everyone ran off outside the building. It was pretty frightening for first time feeling, apparently the affected areas spread out so far from west to eastern suburbs.
- inopinatus 5y ago
  This feels like half the story; for closure I hope you can inform us how the pancake turned out.
  - robertwt7 5y ago
    I turned off the stove before I went out. However the pancake stuck on the pan, and I continue with my standup...
jp0d 5y ago
I work for a Kiwi company and many of my colleagues are Kiwis. When I posted this on company messaging platform, many of them were surprised that Australia gets earthquakes too. I felt quite strong tremors here in Ringwood, Vic. Wife and I ran out through the backdoor to the garden. It was quite an experience.
- blobby_barton 5y ago
  I'm just down the road in Croydon and it was much the same. Thought the retaining wall outside had busted open and I was about to lose my house, didn't even occur to me it might be an earthquake
  - jp0d 5y ago
    I thought it was some possums mucking around on the roof. My wife thought I'd started exercising on the wooden floorboards! Hope you and your family are safe.
- anotherevan 5y ago
  Yes, I'm in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne and everyone in our household were standing in doorways. This is certainly the largest and longest one I've experienced, and I've lived in Papua New Guinea and Tokyo for short-ish periods of time. > many of them were surprised that Australia gets earthquakes too. While we do, ones that are widely noticeable let-alone alarming are quite rare.
  - jp0d 5y ago
    Yes, it's rare! But it's 2021! We've seen many rare things happen! hahaha. Hope you're safe, mate.
- nyokodo 5y ago
  > Wife and I ran out through the backdoor to the garden For future reference, during an earthquake if you’re inside it’s usually far safer to climb under a desk or table, stand in a doorway or up against a wall in the center of your house rather than going outside. Falling trees, power lines, broken gas mains, and even soil liquefaction can be very dangerous.
pseudosavant 5y ago
I was on Zoom with some Australian coworkers when this happened. Cameras suddenly go off, and when they turn it back on they were kind of speechless. It was kind of funny for a Californian. Although the strongest earthquake I've ever experienced was in Indiana. Go figure.
- macintux 5y ago
  > Although the strongest earthquake I've ever experienced was in Indiana. That is…unexpected. I’ve felt two here in Indiana in 50 years, neither of which were all that notable other than the fact that we almost never get them. (Knock on wood)
AHappyCamper 5y ago
Melbournians who left their homes for fear of the roof collapsing were jailed for breaking quarantine. Premier Daniel Andrews stated: "Trying to survive a natural disaster is no reason to spread COVID. You will all be punished." (note: this comment is satire)
- bobby_bob 5y ago
  This is poor satire. "In an emergency" has always been allowed reason to leave home during the Victorian lockdowns. 1 - https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/how-we-live https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/how-we-live
  - AHappyCamper 5y ago
    Pieces of roof falling on your head from a 5.9 Richter Scale earthquake is not "an emergency". It is actually a sign of White Privilege, since only White People are rich enough to have places with roofs. More importantly, I am worried your comment has breached the Victorian Standards of Acceptable Speech (VSAS). "This is poor satire" - expressing your own opinions is strictly forbidden and is punishable by years in hard labour camps or by firing squad. Though this sounds extreme, it's really for the safety of the people, to protect them from dangerous thoughts. Please be careful about what things you share online. (note: this comment is satire)
    - spacehunt 5y ago
      As a Hong Konger-Australian with family as well as friends of many different ethnicities back in Melbourne, I find your comment quite disgusting.
      - AHappyCamper 5y ago
        I would have thought that you'd find my comment appropriate, given that Melbourne is now starting to display policies similar to those of China. This is not just empty rhetoric - they are instituting laws that you of all people should find worrisome. Wait... you didn't specify if you support the CCP or support an independent and free Hong Kong, so maybe the opposite is actually true.
kimburgess 5y ago
View of the earthquake, as seen by one of the city's fiber optic networks: https://twitter.com/_______kim/status/1440661525933412361 https://twitter.com/_______kim/status/1440661525933412361.
yalogin 5y ago
This is the earthquake for which the anti vax nuts were saying the government created the earthquake to quell the riots.

73 points by jp0d 5y ago

Felt this as far away as Wagga Wagga, NSW. It's insane how far these things travel, and especially a shock in a place like Australia where Geological activity is so low. We're just not used to this kind of thing

shirro 5y ago
Never knew how far earthquakes travelled. I guess everyone else on the planet knows but I didn't realise you could feel them in a different state until today. And this wasn't even a big one compared to what they get all the time in places like NZ or Japan. Nature is awesome.
monkeycantype 5y ago
A medical researcher I study with though she was experiencing the onset of Parkinson's

kadoban 5y ago

Looks far enough away to not have caused anything too serious in Melbourne. Is there anything much closer to the epicenter there that would be harder hit? The few early news articles I can find seem to confirm not much serious damage in Melbourne.

JanisL 5y ago
Not much damage in Melbourne, at least so far (hopefully nothing bigger happens, this comment is a couple of hours since the main shock). A few poorly built brick walls have toppled in some places but that's about all.
retsibsi 5y ago
There are some towns nearby. Worst I've heard of so far is broken windows, cracked ceilings and the like. Definitely some potential for injury, but I haven't heard of anyone significantly hurt.
anotherevan 5y ago
The epicentres were close to Mansfield[1] which is a town of about 4,800. According to State Emergency Services (SES) reports in the news, they've had a bit over 100 requests for assistance, largely related to minor structural damage to chimneys and facades of buildings. If you search twitter for "Chapel Street" you can probably find some footage of a wall collapse. Nothing too serious all in all as far as I can tell. No reports of injuries that I've heard. While there are plenty of small tremors in Australia that usually go unnoticed, ones that are widely noticeable let-alone alarming are quite rare. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield,_Victoria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield,_Victoria

arawde 5y ago

Event page on USGS https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000fd9v/executive https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000fd9v...

JanisL 5y ago

I think there's some important context here for people reading this from overseas, geologically Australia is extremely stable as its far from any tectonic plate borders and there's very few large earthquakes here. This quake is one of the largest to happen here. Many people here have never experienced the sort of whole building shaking type of experience we just had.

davidjohnstone 5y ago
According to Wikipedia's list[1], it's the strongest earthquake Australia has had since 1997, and that one was in a remote part of Western Australia. "A Seismologist tells @abcmelbourne it’s the biggest earthquake Victoria has experienced since European settlement" [2] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Austral... 2. https://twitter.com/bridgerollo/status/1440467927140999174 https://twitter.com/bridgerollo/status/1440467927140999174
rd07 5y ago
Well, that's new knowledge for me. Especially knowing that in its northern neighbor, Indonesia, there is an earthquake somewhere in its region.
- JanisL 5y ago
  Have a look at some maps of plate tectonics. The huge Australian plate collides with the Sunda plate along a boundary which is much closer to Indonesian landmasses compared to the Australian ones.

Khaine 5y ago

Also discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28611456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28611456

Khaine 5y ago

The Australian plate is the fastest moving continental land mass on Earth and is colliding into the Pacific plate to Australia's north and east, and the Eurasian Plate to the northwest. This generates mainly compressive stress in the interior of the Australian continent, which is slowly building up across the plate as it moves northeast about 7 cm per year. Australia's earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of this stress when rocks deep underground break and move along a fault line. While some parts of the country are more likely to experience earthquakes than others, large earthquakes can occur anywhere across the continent, and without warning. On average 100 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more are recorded in Australia each year. Earthquakes above magnitude 5.0, such as the destructive 1989 Newcastle earthquake, occur on average every one-to-two years. About every ten years Australia experiences a potentially damaging earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or more such as the magnitude 6.5 Meckering earthquake in October 1968.

hilbert42 5y ago
With those facts, I'm surprised that we don't have larger quakes. I remember the Newcastle one, my parents' home had its roof damaged in it. I also recall a rather strong one in the Blue Mountains when I was a kid but can't remember exactly when it was (sometime in the early to mid 1960s if I recall correctly). I think is was on a Saturday in the AM, and I definitely do recall having difficulty walking across my bedroom whilst it was occurring.
- CommieBobDole 5y ago
  Maybe the 1961 NSW earthquake? Though that one was on a Monday morning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_New_South_Wales_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_New_South_Wales_earthquak... Wikipedia has a whole list of significant Australian earthquakes, if that's not it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Austral...
  - hilbert42 5y ago
    Ha, right, thanks for that. It must have been the Monday as that's around the date as best I can remember and the time in the morning seems right too (it's been a while now and the grey cells are loaded with superfluous junk). ;-) At the time the quake began I was still in bed (being a Monday I should have been up a getting ready for school - perhaps it was school holidays and that's why I thought it was a Saturday, I must check that up later). I'm almost certain that I was asleep when it started and it woke me up (more evidence for school hollidays?). Initially I was confused and wondered where the almighty noise and rattling-type vibrations were coming from. My first reaction was that it was a jackhammer and the Council was digging up the street (an all too common occurrence as the asbestos cement water pipes broke frequently (yes, you read correctly, they were asbestos) - but all the noise and action seemed too localized to be in the street. I immediately jumped out of bed and tried to run across the bedroom (a very large room that I shared with my brother) and traversing the room was a bit of a task as my feet were slipping from under me. Even though I'd never experienced an earthquake previously it was immediately obvious to me what was going on by the time I was about one half meters from my bed. Being a techie even back then, as soon as I'd figured it out I stopped and watched everything that was happening - 'roof' dirt coming down from the cornice after it had separated from the wall, the clothes cupboard door rattling like crazy and the floor boards bouncing to the extent that it was difficult to walk (but standing still was OK). I wasn't the slightest bit scared even the moment when I realized what was happening, if anything I had a kid's excitement of a new experience. I didn't try to escape out of the room either (methinks not a good move in hindsight), I simply watched from the center of my room until it was over. It's hard to be accurate about the quake's duration but I'd guess it was about 30 second, perhaps even 40 but that's unlikely as time dilates in circumstances like that. . From the docs, I reckon I was about 90km from the epicenter. Similarly, the Wiki list of quakes is fascinating, I never realized there were that many. I've never thought to look up the details previously as it hasn't been in the forefront of my mind until now. It's been an interesting experience down memory lane.

gmurphy 5y ago

Like most of the earthquakes I felt in the bay area, I spent most of it thinking it was an unbalanced dryer in the final stages of its cycle. It roughly felt equivalent to the 2014 Napa Quake (which was also a 6). For normally geologically-quiet Melbourne, however, this would be the strongest quake ever recorded.

NoPicklez 5y ago

We will rebuild Picks up fallen picnic chair

getmoheb 5y ago
first hand report from 600km away: my windows rattled, briefly, and i swayed ever so slightly on my chair.
- cheesecake_luvr 5y ago
  From Brisbane: my right eyebrow was raised when I heard about it.
  - NoPicklez 5y ago
    Wasn't sure if the earth moved or my stomach grumbled
- Johnythree 5y ago
  Traralgon here: Started as a rumbling, then changed to low frequency shaking. Was quite scary. No damage here, but lot of junk fell over in the kitchen.
chrismorgan 5y ago
I grew up with an anecdote along the lines of that in the 60s or 70s there’d been one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded in Australia, and the total property damage had been that one cow shed fell over, because that’s how empty much of Western Australia or Northern Territory is. The anecdote may be slightly exaggerated for comedic effect, but it’s also probably not far off the truth.

vmception 5y ago

5.9

peanut_worm 5y ago

Huh I didn’t think Australia had earthquakes

senectus1 5y ago
not very often no. we're geologically very stable. (but also as a whole continent moving quite a lot)
shirro 5y ago
We don't get big ones with high frequency as we are not on a tectonic boundary. No active volcanoes either. There are faults and stresses within the continental plate but they mainly produce smaller earthquakes with lower frequency but they do happen. Given the population density people rarely feel them. So even a moderate quake is a huge novelty. I can understand why people are so excited and sharing it on social media. I am probably about 700km away and I only barely felt it and it might be the only earthquake I feel in my entire life.
notriskfree 5y ago
Macron stamps his feet and this happens. You better watch out down there.

robertwt7 5y ago

I was cooking pancake before my stand up meeting, then the floor was just shuffling at the apartment. Everyone ran off outside the building. It was pretty frightening for first time feeling, apparently the affected areas spread out so far from west to eastern suburbs.

inopinatus 5y ago
This feels like half the story; for closure I hope you can inform us how the pancake turned out.
- robertwt7 5y ago
  I turned off the stove before I went out. However the pancake stuck on the pan, and I continue with my standup...

jp0d 5y ago

I work for a Kiwi company and many of my colleagues are Kiwis. When I posted this on company messaging platform, many of them were surprised that Australia gets earthquakes too. I felt quite strong tremors here in Ringwood, Vic. Wife and I ran out through the backdoor to the garden. It was quite an experience.

blobby_barton 5y ago
I'm just down the road in Croydon and it was much the same. Thought the retaining wall outside had busted open and I was about to lose my house, didn't even occur to me it might be an earthquake
- jp0d 5y ago
  I thought it was some possums mucking around on the roof. My wife thought I'd started exercising on the wooden floorboards! Hope you and your family are safe.
anotherevan 5y ago
Yes, I'm in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne and everyone in our household were standing in doorways. This is certainly the largest and longest one I've experienced, and I've lived in Papua New Guinea and Tokyo for short-ish periods of time. > many of them were surprised that Australia gets earthquakes too. While we do, ones that are widely noticeable let-alone alarming are quite rare.
- jp0d 5y ago
  Yes, it's rare! But it's 2021! We've seen many rare things happen! hahaha. Hope you're safe, mate.
nyokodo 5y ago
> Wife and I ran out through the backdoor to the garden For future reference, during an earthquake if you’re inside it’s usually far safer to climb under a desk or table, stand in a doorway or up against a wall in the center of your house rather than going outside. Falling trees, power lines, broken gas mains, and even soil liquefaction can be very dangerous.

pseudosavant 5y ago

I was on Zoom with some Australian coworkers when this happened. Cameras suddenly go off, and when they turn it back on they were kind of speechless. It was kind of funny for a Californian. Although the strongest earthquake I've ever experienced was in Indiana. Go figure.

macintux 5y ago
> Although the strongest earthquake I've ever experienced was in Indiana. That is…unexpected. I’ve felt two here in Indiana in 50 years, neither of which were all that notable other than the fact that we almost never get them. (Knock on wood)

AHappyCamper 5y ago

Melbournians who left their homes for fear of the roof collapsing were jailed for breaking quarantine. Premier Daniel Andrews stated: "Trying to survive a natural disaster is no reason to spread COVID. You will all be punished." (note: this comment is satire)

bobby_bob 5y ago
This is poor satire. "In an emergency" has always been allowed reason to leave home during the Victorian lockdowns. 1 - https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/how-we-live https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/how-we-live
- AHappyCamper 5y ago
  Pieces of roof falling on your head from a 5.9 Richter Scale earthquake is not "an emergency". It is actually a sign of White Privilege, since only White People are rich enough to have places with roofs. More importantly, I am worried your comment has breached the Victorian Standards of Acceptable Speech (VSAS). "This is poor satire" - expressing your own opinions is strictly forbidden and is punishable by years in hard labour camps or by firing squad. Though this sounds extreme, it's really for the safety of the people, to protect them from dangerous thoughts. Please be careful about what things you share online. (note: this comment is satire)
  - spacehunt 5y ago
    As a Hong Konger-Australian with family as well as friends of many different ethnicities back in Melbourne, I find your comment quite disgusting.
    - AHappyCamper 5y ago
      I would have thought that you'd find my comment appropriate, given that Melbourne is now starting to display policies similar to those of China. This is not just empty rhetoric - they are instituting laws that you of all people should find worrisome. Wait... you didn't specify if you support the CCP or support an independent and free Hong Kong, so maybe the opposite is actually true.

kimburgess 5y ago

View of the earthquake, as seen by one of the city's fiber optic networks: https://twitter.com/_______kim/status/1440661525933412361 https://twitter.com/_______kim/status/1440661525933412361.

yalogin 5y ago

This is the earthquake for which the anti vax nuts were saying the government created the earthquake to quell the riots.