"It felt like someone was shaking our house," she said.
"There was a roar and we realised it was everything we own shaking in drawers and on shelves."
Supermarkets and pharmacies in nearby Moe, Newborough, Trafalgar and Morwell had stock thrown to the floor and shelves collapse.
"There was soft drink everywhere, shampoo bottles off the shelves, some smashed bottles of red wine and Midori," said Robin Marriott, the owner of Newborough Foodworks.
"But the building is fine. I guess we're lucky."
The State Emergency Service responded to more than 40 calls for help, with the bulk coming from Gippsland townships and a handful from metropolitan Melbourne.
Geoscience Australia seismologist Marco Maldoni said about 60 smaller aftershocks were felt yesterday and these could continue for days or weeks.
"These are a lot smaller than the initial earthquake, the vast majority below a two or three (magnitude)," he said.
Victoria has experienced an earthquake of comparable size on average once every 15 years since 1900, Maldoni said.
"In terms of earthquakes this is a minor earthquake, but let's keep in mind the 1989 Newcastle [New South Wales] earthquake was 5.6 magnitude and people died," he said.
"It is certainly significant for Australia and particularly for Victoria."
Maldoni said Gippsland was one of three areas in Australia, with the Flinders Ranges and Western Australia, where earthquakes occurred.
"People around Korumburra in Gippsland have been feeling earthquakes for the past few years. That's indicative of the fact there's a number of fault lines in that part of the state," he said.
Emergency services were assessing the impact of the quake but there were no reports of damage to critical infrastructure such as roads, rail, dams and power supply.
Construction experts say the earthquake did not have enough force to seriously damage buildings in Gippsland and Melbourne.
THE SHAKE
Time: 8.53pm (local time) on Tuesday
Location: Southwest of Moe, Victoria
Magnitude: 5.3
Depth: 10km
Tremors felt: Up to 230km away
Damage: Minor, possible up to 18km from epicentre.
- AAP