Victoria shaken by biggest earthquake in three years

Victoria’s south-east was rattled by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake on Saturday, the state’s biggest in three years.

The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres near Leongatha, about 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, just after 2am.

But the tremors were felt far and wide across the state, stretching from Ballarat to Bairnsdale, Euroa to Wilsons Prom.

Thousands of Victorians were shaken from their sleep with more than 20,000 people reported feeling the quake, according to GeoScience Australia.

“It’s actually quite valuable information for us - because first of all it gives us first-hand information,” Dr Hadi Ghasemi from GeoScience Australia told 9News.

Many residents were left in shock by the unexpected wake-up call.

"It scared the hell out of me," one man told 9News.

While another person said they "could feel the entire house shake, so [it was] quite surprising".

One woman "thought I was in a bad dream" as she felt the quake, while others were just as confused.

"Just felt this incredible shaking and thought 'oh the wind is super strong' and it kept going and thought 'yep, that's an earthquake'," another woman said.

Near where one of the state’s largest earthquakes hit in 2021 – when part of a Chapel Street burger shop collapsed – some new cracks were showing today after Victoria’s biggest quake in three years.

But no injuries or major damage have been reported.

The experts say aftershocks could continue to shake things up for the next few days but they should be much smaller than what was felt on Saturday.