australia since the 1800s. shaimaa khalil reports from sydney. melbourne residents in shock assessing the damage after a magnitude six earthquake hit the state of victoria. the north—eastern town of mansfield was the epicentre, but the tremors were felt strongly in the country's second city and as far away as canberra, sydney and adelaide. the prime minister spoke just as he arrived in washington. at this stage, we have had no reports of serious incidents or worse and that is very good news and we hope that that good news will continue, but, obviously, we'll get further reports as the night unfolds here in the united states. but it can be a very, very disturbing event for an earthquake of this nature, they are very rare events in australia, and, as a result, i'm sure people would have been quite distressed and disturbed by that, particularly in the most immediate area affected. several buildings and a hospital