A small earthquake shook houses in the Melbourne suburb of Pakenham overnight . Geoscience Australia said the 2.8-magnitude quake , at a depth of 10km , struck the southeast of the city at 11.39pm on Tuesday . The quake was followed by a 1.3-magnitude aftershock at 3.18am . More than 300 people reported feeling the earthquake to Geoscience Australia , from suburbs as far as 50km from the epicentre including Montrose in the east and Port Melbourne in the Inner City . Scroll down for video . Residential complex around The Lake in Pakenham , where a 2.8-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday . The 1928 Pakenham Hotel , in Pakenham , in the southeast of Melbourne . 'They generally report hearing loud earth noises and some rattling of windows and the earth shook for some people who were a bit closer to the event , ' Geoscience Australia 's Andrea Thom told the ABC . 'You would n't expect any damage and we have n't received any reports in this regard . ' Earthquake quickly began trending on Twitter in Melbourne , as the city 's residents headed to the social media network site to share their experiences . Suzanna Masri tweeted : 'Suddenly awoken by what felt like an # earthquake . Loud piercing rumble then floor shaking . # Melbourne # Pakenham . ' More than 300 people reported feeling the earthquake to Geoscience Australia . Chris S , from Berwick , said he heard 'four seconds of rumbling then a very loud crack ' . Bianca , @ AussyGal , tweeted 'Earthquake or giant bird landing on my roof ? # earthquake # Melbourne ' , while Simon Coulton , @ simoncoulton , wrote 'Nothing like an # earthquake mid coding session to scare the pants off you # melbourne ' . Although the severity of the quake was questioned by some , including Ryan Alavi , @ ralavi , who posted : 'My thoughts and prayers with all # Melbourne who had to check their twitter to confirm if there was really and # earthquake ' . This comes after a 3.1-magnitude quake hit Moe , to the east of Pakenham , last week . Prof Mike Sandiford , from the University of Melbourne 's School of Earth Sciences , said there had been a few hundred earthquakes in the South Gippsland area and its surrounds since a large 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit the area in 2012 . 'It 's a reasonably active area by Australian standards , and this is a more active phase , ' Prof Sandiford said . 'The area 's releasing more seismic energy than it had in a few years . '
A 2.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Melbourne suburb of Pakenham . More than 300 people reported feeling the quake to Geoscience Australia . The earthquake was followed by a 3.18am aftershock at 1.3-magnitude .