Telstra calls spike after Victoria earthquake

Calls on the Telstra network quadrupled after a 5.3-magnitude earthquake shook Victoria 9pm AEST, according to the telco.

The call traffic in the immediate period after 9pm was four times as much as the same period before, and SMS levels also doubled in the hour after the quake compared to normal levels, the telco said.

“Our biggest spike in call numbers was noticed immediately at the time of the earthquake,” Telstra director of network and commercial planning, Anthony Goonan, said in a statement. Traffic had returned to normal levels by 10.20pm., he said. “The call traffic at its busiest was equivalent to our peak call volumes in the day.”

Optus saw a 70 per cent increase in calls on its network in the two hours following the earthquake, an Optus spokesperson told Computerworld Australia.

The earthquake was reportedly the largest to hit Victoria in more than a century.

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