Wonnangatta, Vic, ML 5.4
1982 November 21, 11:34 UTC
(Sunday, November 21, 09:34 pm EST)

The epicentre of this earthquake was in the remote Wonnangatta Valley in the Eastern Highlands of Victoria. This earthquake was widely felt in eastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. People camping in the Wonnangatta Valley experienced very strong shaking. Intensities reported from the nearest towns, at Bright, Harrietville and Mt Hotham were not high.The earthquake was felt throughout the suburbs of Melbourne, but not in Geelong.

Some minor damage was reported, particularly from the Eildon-Mansfield and Moe-Morwell areas. Following inspections, it is believed that other factors such as subsidence following the 1982 drought may have been involved.

Seismology Research Centre staff installed two portable seismographs in the epicentral area, and recorded several aftershocks. Denham, Gibson, Smith and Underwood (1985) compared this earthquake to the 1966 May 3, Mt Hotham earthquake. Details and an isoseismal map are in Atlas 2.