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Timbertop Survives Quake Unscathed
Sunday, 26 September 2021
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 Timbertop, close to the epicentre of the 5.9 magnitude earthquake, survived unscathed and the people of Mansfield were in the thoughts of the British Prime Minister. Timbertop was shaken but not stirred by the largest onshore earthquake in Victoria’s recorded history on Wednesday 22 September. The epicentre of the 5.9 magnitude earthquake was detected by Geoscience Australia in the Alpine National Park, south-east of Mansfield and north of Rawson, at around 9.15am. While the SES reported more than 100 requests for assistance, Timbertop resident Annabel Bainger (Southey, Cl’02) was surprised by the minimal evidence left by the record-breaking quake – which was little more than a few opened kitchen drawers. “We got home to an almost disappointing lack of evidence! I was expecting books off shelves, smashed vases and pictures fallen off walls." Annabel said. Another Timbertop resident described the moments of the 10-15 second quake, "The house was shaking quite vigorously, I thought it was going to collapse but it didn't. Things fell off shelves but remarkably it all stood up." It was left to former Timbertop gappie, Alexander ‘Boris’ Johnson, to express his concern for “the people of Mansfield”. Johnson approached Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and was overheard by 7 News reporter Jennifer Bechwati saying: “Very sorry to hear you had an earthquake just now… my thoughts are with the people of Mansfield”. Of course, Johnson knows the Mansfield area well, having spent 1983 as a gap-year assistant at Timbertop. |