Australia news live: NSW on bushfire alert amid ‘extremely dry’ conditions; Victorians feel early morning earthquake | Australia news
Key events
The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, will be speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers.
Meanwhile, the industry and science minister, Ed Husic, spoke to Sky News earlier on Sunday morning.
We’ll bring you all the latest as it happens.
RFS warns northern NSW residents about bushfires
The NSW Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner, Peter McKechnie, has warned residents of northern New South Wales not to be “complacent” as total fire bans have been imposed across five areas in the state.
Two fires are burning near Kempsey in the state’s mid-north, with fears high winds may fan the blazes.
Speaking to the ABC on Sunday, McKechnie said current conditions suggested a tough fire season ahead.
Look, given the time of year, it’s exceptionally dry. We’re seeing fires start very easily, they’re moving very easily and they’re threatening properties quite quickly.
So until we see some really good rain and some relief, I think the pattern has been set for what will continue to be regular fire activity and does point towards what we have been saying – a very long and challenging fire season.
5.0-magnitude earthquake hits south-western Victoria
A 5.0-magnitude earthquake has rattled residents in south-western Victoria, with thousands of people reporting to have felt the early morning tremor.
Geoscience Australia said the earthquake struck at 2.11am on Sunday near Colac in the Great Otway national park, about 165km from Melbourne, at a depth of 7km.
The seismologists had originally measured the quake as being of magnitude 4.7 but later revised this to 5.0 and moved the epicentre from Apollo Bay.
An aftershock with magnitude 3.5 was recorded at Apollo Bay at 5.44am, Geoscience Australia said.
Victorian emergency services said no injuries had been reported and the earthquake appeared to have caused little or no damage.
More than 4,420 people reported feeling the earthquake by 3.30am, including many residents in the Victorian capital.
Geoscience Australia said the quake was felt as far north as Bendigo and as far south as King Island.
– AAP
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
The head of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service has urged residents along the state’s mid-north coast to remain vigilant as firefighters battle two blazes in challenging conditions. A total fire ban is in place for five regions across NSW over fears high winds may fan existing blazes. The RFS deputy commissioner, Peter McKechnie, said residents should not be “complacent” as conditions were “extremely dry”.
Residents in south-west Victoria had a rude awakening on Sunday when a magnitude 5.0 earthquake hit the region at 2.11am. More than 4,420 people reported feeling the quake, which struck near Colac in the Great Otway national park but was felt as far north as Bendigo and as far south as King Island. No one was reported injured and there have so far been no reports of damage.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started …
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2023/oct/22/anthony-albanese-us-visit-israel-gaza-conflict-nsw-bushfire-alert-victoria-earthquake Australia news live: NSW on bushfire alert amid ‘extremely dry’ conditions; Victorians feel early morning earthquake | Australia news
