The tremor, recorded at 2.8 on the Richter scale in Strathalbyn, was widely felt, with accounts coming in from as distant as Meninge and Angle Vale.

Geoscience Australia received over 1000 reports regarding the event.

Residents in Strathalbyn were preparing for sleep when the ground began to shake. 

“I didn’t see anything but I felt… I thought it was a bomb (going) off. I wasn’t sure what it was,” local resident Robert Westley said.

Another resident, Peter Fergusson, recounted the experience by saying, “the house rumbled and shook and we’ve got an old bluestone so it must have been pretty deep and pretty high”.

“These smaller earthquakes tend to present as kind of a loud bang or a deep sort of rumble,” Johnathan Bathgate of Geoscience Australia said.

While last night’s earthquake was minor, South Australia has experienced more significant seismic events in the past. 

The state’s most severe earthquake occurred in 1954, resulting in millions of dollars in damage. 

“That was certainly one of the most significant earthquakes to occur in a populated centre in Australian recent history,” Bathgate said.