The largest earthquake in Victoria's history has damaged buildings, with the tremors felt across Melbourne and as far away as Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide.
The magnitude 5.9 quake was 10km deep and centred at Mansfield, a small town on the foothills of Victoria's alps, at around 9.15am on Wednesday, according to Geoscience Australia.
There has been six aftershocks since, between 2.4 and 4.1 on the Richter scale and further tremors are expected for some time after.
"What we have seen as a result of the 5.9 earthquake that affected Victoria today is a range of minor structural damage, we have had just over 100 requests for assistance, 55 in the metropolitan area, largely related to minor structural damage to chimneys and facades on buildings," State Emergency Service chief officer Tim Wiebusch told reporters.
"Chapel Street, we saw a wall collapsed there and we saw a facade collapse in Brunswick Road in Fitzroy which are probably the two more significant, but there have been a range of chimneys and other minor structural damage across the state."
Helicopters were sent up to assess damage.
However, reports of damage have emerged from the Mansfield township and within metropolitan Melbourne, and the Beechworth hospital lost power, Deputy Premier James Merlino told reporters.
There have been no reports of injuries.
Seismology Research Centre Chief Scientist Adam Pascale said aftershocks could continue for months, although people may not feel them.
"A magnitude 5.8 makes this the largest onshore earthquake in Victoria in recorded history," he told AAP.
"We expect those aftershocks to continue for months probably."
Buildings in Melbourne shook and movement was felt in Geelong and even at Canberra's Parliament House, Sydney's CBD, northern Tasmania, parts of Adelaide and other areas in South Australia.
Among the buildings damaged is the exterior of Betty's Burgers on Chapel Street in Windsor
No one was inside the restaurant when the earthquake hit, managing director Troy McDonagh told AAP.
"We're out for months, it's structural, it looks like the top's come away, we need to get engineers in to assess it and then the works will need to be completed," he said.
Kim, who was working in the kitchen at Nguyen's Hot Bread in Windsor, opposite Betty's Burger, said it was a scary situation.
"It was very loud, I thought the building had collapsed, so I came outside and I saw smoke everywhere and luckily no one was under the building," she told AAP.
Lynne Myers of High County Apparel in Mansfield, where the quake emanated, told AAP it was a frightening few minutes but there was no damage.
"Everything shook, the roof shook, boots fell off the shelf and I just ran outside," she said.
Craig Luelf from the All Seasons Mansfield resort said he was outside the town hospital when he felt "waves of the ground moving".
"At first, I thought the car was having a few issues and then realised all of a sudden that everything was moving," he told AAP.
"My father's neighbour is at the top of a hill and he could see the waves of the ground moving up the hill."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is currently in Washington DC, said he had spoken by text with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews following the earthquake.
"It can be a very, very disturbing event for an earthquake of this nature," he told reporters.
Any federal response to the emergency will be handled by Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.
The earthquake was originally recorded as a magnitude 6 but was later revised 5.8, then 5.9 on the Richter scale.
© AAP 2021