A magnitude 5.9 earthquake has struck near Melbourne, Australia - the country's most powerful quake in half a century.
It caused rubble to fall from buildings and power cuts as terrified citizens scrambled to safety.
Geoscience Australia confirmed the quake which saw its epicentre near the rural town of Mansfield, about 124 miles northeast of Melbourne.
It was at a depth of six miles and there has been no tsunami threat declared for the Australian mainland.
It is the biggest quake to hit the country since 1968, when a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck east of Perth.
A local radio station posted a picture of rubble on a street in Melbourne which it said was caused by the quake.
Others said they had been evacuated from buildings following the tremor and people in northern parts of the city said on social media they had lost power.
The quake was felt as far away as city of Adelaide, 500 miles to the west in the state of South Australia, and Sydney, 600 miles to the north in New South Wales state.
There have been no reports of damage outside Melbourne and no reports of any injuries.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Washington: "We have had no reports of serious injuries, or worse, and that is very good news and we hope that good news will continue.
"It can be a very disturbing event, an earthquake of this nature. They are very rare events in Australia and as a result, I am sure people would have been quite distressed and disturbed."
The mayor of Mansfield, Mark Holcombe, said he was in his home office on his farm when the quake struck and ran outside for safety.
"I have been in earthquakes overseas before and it seemed to go on longer than I have experienced before," he told the ABC.
"The other thing that surprised me was how noisy it was. It was a real rumbling like a big truck going past."
He said he knew of no serious damage near the quake epicentre, although some residents reported problems with telecommunications.
No tsunami threat has been issued to the Australian mainland, islands or territories, the country's Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.
The quake presented a potential disruption for anti-lockdown protests expected in Melbourne on Wednesday, which would be the third day of unrest that has reached increasing levels of violence and police response.
The quake measured higher than the country's deadliest tremor, a 5.6 in Newcastle in 1989, which resulted in 13 deaths.
