Melbourne earthquake: how common are tremors in Victoria and could a very large one occur?

Map from Geoscience Australia showing a fault line called Clarkefield Scarp north of Melbourne. Photograph: Geoscience Australia

Melbourne residents were shaken by a 3.8- magnitude earthquake on Sunday night.

It was the largest earthquake with an epicentre within 40km of the Melbourne central business district for more than 120 years, according to Adam Pascale, the chief scientist at the Seismology Research Centre. The last was a 4.5-magnitude earthquake that occurred in 1902.