St Mary’s Parish priest Brendan Lane was just commenting on the online service’s “technical” difficulties when earth tremors started.
Then the camera’s jitters became a shudder and Fr Lane’s image blurred as the 5.8 magnitude quake took hold for more than 20 seconds about 9.15am on Wednesday 22 September.
As the rumble subsides, an unruffled Fr Lane says: “Wow! How’s that!
“We’ve just had an earth tremor here.”
He goes on to say that “in the old days God used to speak through theophany, thunder and lightning and tremors and all this”.
“He must be speaking to us today.
“I don’t think I’ve said anything wrong.”
The quake’s epicentre was 180 kilometres north of the Dandenong parish.
It was said to be one of the strongest recorded in Victoria in decades.
