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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Lightning Bolt may have triggered Melbourne Earthquake
2005-02-02
A LIGHTNING bolt may be behind reports of an earth tremor in Melbourne early this morning. The earth may have moved for residents but experts say they did not feel a thing. Geoscience Australia, the national body which measures earthquakes, said there was no evidence of an earth tremor in Melbourne, despite radio reports of one this morning. A spokesman for electricity supplier Powercor said the company's theory was that the rumblings, reported to have happened about 3.08am, might have something to do with a lightning bolt that struck a power pole in Melton in Melbourne's west. The lightning blew the 6m pole and an attached transformer to bits, leaving nothing more than a stump, the spokesman said. "It's a real freak of nature event, we haven't really had it happen before," he said. "If the nature of what's left of our power pole is anything to go by — it's stuffed, it's just a stump — then it could have been that." Asked how the impact would have travelled so far across Melbourne, the spokesman said: "I'm fascinated by that".

Geoscience Australia said it was possible a sonic boom caused the shaking. Given the large number of residents who reported feeling a rumbling shortly after 3am (AEDT), a Geoscience Australia spokesman said it appeared something had occurred but no one was sure what. "There's no doubt something's happened," he said. The spokesman said so far there were no seismic readings showing a tremor, but experts would continue to monitor the readings. He said a small localised tremor may have occurred, spanning about 20 km and measuring no more than roughly 1.3 in magnitude. The shaking also could have been caused by a sonic boom, from a low flying high-speed aircraft. A Defence Department spokesman said he was unsure if any planes were flying over Melbourne last night but would investigate.
Posted by:God Save The World

#5  Once again the MSM gets a simple science story wrong. Lightning can not cause an earthquake.

Earthquakes can cause lightning, however.
Posted by: Parabellum   2005-02-02 5:33:21 PM  

#4  ... and that woman in Alice Springs who turned into a pillar of salt...
Posted by: Fred   2005-02-02 3:12:11 PM  

#3  Hmmm. Signs and portents. There was a tornado in Coonabarabran, NSW, a few weeks back (some trees blown down, livestock killed, no houses or humans damaged).
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2005-02-02 12:42:58 PM  

#2  Not a bug, but a feature...
Posted by: Halliburton: Earthquake/Tsunami Division   2005-02-02 9:41:13 AM  

#1  testing the zionist death ray again?
Posted by: 2b   2005-02-02 9:35:02 AM  

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