Arabic version: زلزال بقوة 4.9 درجات يُشعر به في أنحاء منطقة أديلايد

According to ABC News, a preliminary magnitude-4.9 earthquake struck in waters south of Adelaide at about 7:50am, with residents reporting shaking more than 100 kilometres from the epicentre.

Geoscience Australia said the quake was about 10 kilometres deep and centred roughly 100 kilometres offshore, between Kangaroo Island and the south-east coast. In the first hour, its website received about 700 reports from people who felt the tremor, including reports from Gawler, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Beachport and Kingston SE.

Residents described rattling windows, vibrating pot plants and shaking homes. One caller in Reynella said her bed moved and coffee spilled, while a resident in Glenside reported several side-to-side shakes in a third-floor apartment.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate said the event was significant because of the distance over which it was felt. He said aftershocks were possible, but the quake was unlikely to create a tsunami because earthquakes generally need to be significantly larger.

Bathgate said the quake resulted from tectonic movement linked to the Australian continent moving north at about seven centimetres a year. He also noted a history of offshore earthquakes in the area, including a magnitude-5.6 event offshore of Robe in 1948.