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5.9 Earthquake Causes Some Damage in Australia, No Injuries

Emergency and rescue officials examine a damaged building in the popular shopping area of Chapel Street in Melbourne on September 22, 2021. William West, AFP
Emergency and rescue officials examine a damaged building in the popular shopping area of Chapel Street in Melbourne on September 22, 2021. William West, AFP
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5.9 Earthquake Causes Some Damage in Australia, No Injuries

Emergency and rescue officials examine a damaged building in the popular shopping area of Chapel Street in Melbourne on September 22, 2021. William West, AFP
Emergency and rescue officials examine a damaged building in the popular shopping area of Chapel Street in Melbourne on September 22, 2021. William West, AFP

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake caused some damage in suburban Melbourne on Wednesday in an unusually powerful temblor for Australia.

The quake hit about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Australia’s second-most populous city near the town of Mansfield at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), Geoscience Australia said.

Victoria state Deputy Premier James Merlino cited some damage reports, including a hospital that lost power. Media showed images of fallen bricks from a building in Melbourne's inner suburb of South Yarra, said The Associated Press.

Seismology Research Centre Chief Scientist Adam Pascale said it was the largest onshore quake in Victoria's recorded history.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were no reports of serious injury.

The earthquake was the largest to rattle Australia since a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 210 kilometers (130 miles) off the northwest coastal town of Broome in 2019.

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WHO Says Suspected Outbreak of Marburg Disease Kills 8 in Tanzania

FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
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WHO Says Suspected Outbreak of Marburg Disease Kills 8 in Tanzania

FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo

The World Health Organization said Wednesday an outbreak of suspected Marburg disease has killed eight people in a remote part of northern Tanzania.
“We are aware of 9 cases so far, including 8 people who have died,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “We would expect further cases in coming days as disease surveillance improves,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.
Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and in some cases death from extreme blood loss. There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.
WHO said its risk assessment for the suspected outbreak in Tanzania is high at national and regional levels but low globally. There was no immediate comment from Tanzanian health authorities.
An outbreak of Marburg in Rwanda, first reported on Sept. 27, was declared over on Dec. 20. Rwandan officials reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with the majority of those affected healthcare workers who handled the first patients.