Central-west New South Wales was shaken by what seismologists are calling the region’s largest earthquake, a jolt that traveled well beyond the epicentre. People reported feeling the tremor hundreds of kilometres away, and in some places it didn’t last long—but it was enough to make phones light up with messages and questions.
The quake registered as magnitude 4.5 and struck at 8.19pm last night, at a depth of 5km. It was about 30km southwest of Orange, near the Cadia gold mine. Geoscience Australia received more than 2,000 reports of tremors in the region, which Phil Cummins described as weak to light—though the reach was wider than you’d expect from something at this scale.
Cummins told AAP only five quakes had been recorded within 50km of the quake site since 1977, with the previous one in a 4.3 magnitude in 2017. “This is a large earthquake for this area,” he said. He also expected aftershocks, but said they would likely be much lighter and felt in a smaller area. The ABC reported this morning that it was “record-breaking” for the region—those kinds of labels always sound tidy after the fact, but for locals it’s more about whether the shaking keeps coming back.
The rest of the day’s Canberra attention sat elsewhere, with the prime minister’s travel plans taking centre stage. Anthony Albanese arrived in Brunei Darussalam, the first Australian prime minister to fly to the oil-rich country for a meeting with the sultan, where he’ll discuss fuel supplies with the world’s longest serving monarch. He arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan yesterday for his second trip to Asia in a week, and was officially welcomed on the tarmac before heading to the Brunei Darussalam-Australia memorial to lay a wreath. There was a particular quiet in moments like that—then the schedule resumes.
Albanese is being accompanied by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, for the overnight visit where he’ll meet Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah today to discuss fuel and food trade between both countries. Brunei Darussalam provides 9% of Australia’s annual diesel imports, as well as 11% of annual crude oil imports and 11% of annual fertiliser-grade urea imports, giving the talks a very practical edge. After his discussions with the sultan—who has ruled Brunei Darussalam since 1967 and is one of the world’s richest people—Albanese will fly straight to Kuala Lumpur to discuss fuel supplies with his Malaysian counterpart.
Meanwhile, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will travel to Washington DC this morning to meet finance ministers, treasurers and central bank governors as the US-Israeli war on Iran wages on. Chalmers said he will continue to call for an enduring ceasefire, an end to the conflict and the immediate re-opening of the strait of Hormuz after peace talks between the US and Iran failed over the weekend. Before the G20 finance ministers’ meeting, he said: “From an economic perspective, a proper end to this war can’t come soon enough. Australians are paying a hefty price for events on the other side of the world.”
He added that he will work to strengthen partnerships and supply chains during his short trip to the US capital, and that the treasurer will meet with key figures from Australia’s major fuel suppliers, including South Korea, Singapore and China. The world is predicting slower growth, higher inflation and extreme volatility as a result of the ongoing conflict, he said, with Chalmers preparing his fifth budget amid turbulent times. Tax cuts passed last year are part of the government’s relief package for struggling households, and the government has left the door open for further announcements as the conflict continues to wreak havoc—though in the same breath, you can feel how many moving parts there are, from seismic activity in NSW to diplomacy in Southeast Asia, and how easily one story bleeds into the next.
Beirut residents skeptical about Lebanese negotiations with Israel