List of earthquakes in Australia

This is a list of significant earthquakes recorded within Australia and its territories. The currency used is the Australian dollar (A$) unless noted otherwise.

List of earthquakes

StateLocationDateMMMIDeathsInjuriesTotal damage / notes
Offshore Cape Schanck 1855-09-17 5.5 Minor damage in Melbourne and surroundings.
New South Wales Newcastle 1868-06-18 5.3 Damage in Hunter Street and the Newcastle suburbs of The Hill and Wallsend (then known as Pitt Town). [1]
Victoria Eastern Highlands 1869-08-30 5.4 Light building damage and smashed windows reported around the Mt Hotham region including in Benalla and Omeo. Felt widely across eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales, including Melbourne and Albury.
South Australia Dorset Vale 1883-07-07 4.7 IV 1 Felt strongly throughout southern South Australia including within Adelaide where one man was injured after jumping out through a window due to fright.
Queensland Gayndah 1883-08-28 5.9 Caused major damage in the Gayndah region. [2]
Tasmania Flinders Island 1884-07-13 6.4 VI Felt across Tasmania and in eastern Victoria (MMIII-IV). Extensive minor damage across eastern Tasmania including fallen plaster, cracked ceilings and walls, damaged chimneys in Launceston (MMV) and items knocked from shelves. Part of the 1883-1892 West Tasman Sea earthquake swarm.
Tasmania Flinders Island 1884-09-19 6.4 VI Felt across Tasmania and in eastern Victoria. Minor damage in northwest Tasmania. Part of the 1883-1892 West Tasman Sea earthquake swarm.
Western Australia Geraldton 1885-01-05 6.5 V 1 Minor damage to buildings. Epicentre estimated to be off Geraldton coast.
Tasmania Flinders Island 1885-05-13 6.8 VI Felt across Tasmania and large parts of Victoria, including in Melbourne and Geelong (MMIII), as well as in southeastern New South Wales (MMMIV-V). Extensive minor damage across eastern Tasmania including fallen plaster, cracked ceilings and walls, damaged chimneys, items knocked from shelves, and damage to church spires. Part of the 1883-1892 West Tasman Sea earthquake swarm.
Victoria Cape Liptrap 1885-07-02 5.7 Tied with the 1922 and 1965 events as Victoria's largest earthquake. Felt throughout Victoria, including Melbourne and Geelong. Minor damage around epicentre.
New South Wales/ACT Yass 1886-11-15 5.5 Damage caused in Yass, felt strongly in Queanbeyan. [3]
Tasmania Flinders Island 1892-01-27 6.9 VIII Felt across Tasmania (MMIV-VI), Victoria (MMIII-V), and southeastern New South Wales (MMV). Extensive minor damage across eastern Tasmania including fallen plaster, cracked ceilings and walls, damaged chimneys, and collapsed verandahs. Part of the 1883-1892 West Tasman Sea earthquake swarm.
South Australia Beachport - Robe 1897-05-10 6.5 UK IX 50 NGDC[4]
Victoria Portarlington 1899-11-23 4.7 V Minor damage reported around Portalington and nearby towns including large cracks, smashed windows, and items thrown from shelves. Felt widely across Melbourne, Geelong, and western Gippsland.
South Australia Warooka 1902-09-19 6.0 VIII 2 1 Widespread damage to the town's many stone buildings. Minor damage and panic in Adelaide. First earthquake in Australia to have caused fatalities.
Victoria Warrnambool 1903-07-14 5.3 VII Regarded as Victoria's most damaging earthquake, extensive minor damage occurred throughout Warrnambool and a few nearby towns. Minor damage also occurred by a magnitude 5.0 foreshock in April.
New South Wales Newcastle 1906-05-16 UK Damage in the suburb of The Hill. Ruptured water mains. Caused some cliff erosion [5][6]
New South Wales Taree - Newcastle 1916-06-11 UK Damage to the Seal Rocks lighthouse. Caused alarm along the Mid-North Coast. [7]
Queensland Bundaberg - Rockhampton 1918-06-07 6.0 VI Offshore. Caused "serious damage" to Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Gladstone. [8]
Victoria Offshore Ocean Grove 1922-04-10 5.7 V Chimney collapse in Glen Iris. Objects thrown from shelves in Cranbourne, East Malvern, Pakenham and Portalington. Felt as far north as Ivanhoe, as far west as Warnambool and as far south as Burnie, Tasmania. A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck a few kilometres east of this earthquake back on the morning of 1 March 1922, which was felt throughout Melbourne, knocking picture frames off a wall in Cowes.
New South Wales Newcastle 1925-12-18 5.3 Damage and panic in Hunter Street (particularly at the Theatre Royal). [9]
Tasmania North East Tasmania 1929-12-29 5.6 Significant damage in Launceston, Tasmania; felt across Western Tasmania from Burnie to Hobart. [10][11]
Victoria Benalla 1931-04-17 4.5 VI Largest event in a series of earthquakes that occurred near Benalla during the 1930s. Damage included smashed windows, large cracks, collapsed chimneys, and items thrown from shelves.
Victoria Mornington Peninsula 1932-09-03 5.1 VI 3 Minor damage caused throughout the Mornington Peninsula. Recent analysis has relocated the epicentre to in-between the towns of Moorooduc, Somerville, and Tyabb.
New South Wales Gunning 1934-11-15 5.6 Damaged a majority of the buildings in Gunning. Felt strongly in Canberra. [3]
Queensland Gayndah 1935-04-12 5.4 VI 1 Caused considerable damage to the town of Gayndah. One fatality.[12] [13]
Victoria Monbulk 1937-06-18 3.6 V 1 Although a minor earthquake, recent newspaper analysis discovered that this earthquake may have triggered a mining related injury in Moorooduc where a loosened rock fell and struck a young man, resulting in a broken arm.
Western Australia Meeberrie 1941-04-29 6.3 VIII Severe shaking, burst water tanks and cracked ground at Meeberrie homestead. Minor damage reported in Perth, 500 kilometres (311 mi) away.
Victoria / Tasmania Bass Strait 1946-09-15 6.2 1 Minor damage reported in Tasmania from Burnie to Huonville, and in Gippsland, Victoria. Offshore earthquake [14][15][16]
New South Wales Dalton and Gunning 1949-03-10 5.5 Significant damage in Dalton and Gunning; minor cracks in some buildings in Canberra. Felt from Sydney in the north to Narooma and Cooma in the south. [3][17]
South Australia Adelaide 1954-03-01 5.5 VIII 16 Damage totaling $90 million. Widespread minor damage. Considerable damage to many buildings. [18]
Western Australia Gabalong 1955-08-30 5.8 V Felt in Perth. Epicentre near Gabalong, about 30 km east of Moora and 200 km NNE of Perth [19][20]
Victoria Cape Otway 1960-12-25 5.3 V No major damage reported.
New South Wales Robertson and Bowral 1961-05-21 5.5 ML VII $3.4 million
Victoria Mt Hotham 1966-05-04 5.5 V Broken Windows at Mt Hotham Ski Village. Felt across North-eastern Victoria, Gippsland and South-eastern New South Wales. Not felt in Melbourne.
Western Australia Meckering 1968-10-14 6.5 Mw IX 33 $2.2 million
Victoria Boolarra, Victoria 1969-06-20 5.3 VI 5.0 aftershock two days later. Cracked walls and stacked chimneys in and around epicentral area. Felt in central and eastern Victoria including Geelong, Benalla and Orbost and on Flinders Island. [21]
Western Australia Lake Mackay 1970-03-24 6.0 Little damage due to the remoteness of the area. Part of a sequence of c. 25 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater in the Canning Basin area of northern Western Australia between 1970 and 1982. [22]
Victoria Western Port 1971-07-07 5.0 VI Minor damage in Cowes, Flinders and Shoreham. Felt throughout Melbourne, Western Port Bay and Gippsland.
New South Wales Picton 1973-03-10 5.5 VI Damage totalling $2.8 million. Minor damage in Picton, Bowral and Wollongong [23]
Victoria Balliang 1977-12-02 4.7 V 1 Felt strongly in Geelong and across the suburbs of Melbourne, caused minor damage in the Anakie area. [24]
Western Australia Cadoux 1979-06-02 6.1 IX 5 25 buildings in Cadoux were damaged. Damage cost $3.8 million. Perth, 180 kilometres (112 mi) away experienced some swaying of tall buildings but no damage was reported. This was one of the largest onshore earthquakes recorded in Australia. [25]
Victoria Wonnangatta, Victoria 1982-11-21 5.4 V The epicentre was in the remote Wonnangatta Valley, along the Wonnangatta Fault; it was mostly felt widely in Eastern Victoria and South Eastern New South Wales and throughout Melbourne and its South Eastern suburbs but not in Geelong. Minor damage was reported in nearby towns. [26]
New South Wales Wyalong 1982-11-26 4.6 VI The largest event in a series of earthquakes that occurred near Wyalong during 1982. Extensive minor damage reported in Wyalong, West Wyalong, and surrounding towns. In Wyalong damage included cracking of external and internal walls, items thrown from shelves, and a partly collapsed shop awning.
New South Wales Oolong 1984-08-09 4.3 V Minor damage in and around the town of Oolong, including in the town of Dalton where the spire of St Matthews Anglican Church was permanently knocked side ways. Produced the highest Peak Ground Acceleration reading in Australian history.
New South Wales Lithgow 1985-02-13 4.3 V-VII Minor damage in and around the town of Lithgow including demolished chimneys, smashed windows, and cracked masonry walls. Power outages were also reported. The total damage came to $65,000.
Northern Territory Marryat Creek 1986-10-30 5.9 Damage was minor, cracked walls observed in DeRose Hill and Victory Downs stations. Felt in Alice Springs 300 kilometres (186 mi) to the north, and Coober Pedy 350 kilometres (217 mi) to the south. [27]
Northern Territory Tennant Creek 1988-01-22 6.2, 6.3, 6.6 VII Two buildings and 3 other structures damaged, damage caused to natural gas pipeline. Total damage $2.5 million. Three earthquakes of between 6.3 and 6.7 on the Richter scale. Remarkably caused little damage, despite the intensity of the quake. Felt in high-rise buildings as far away as Perth and Adelaide [28][29]
Northern Territory Uluru 1989-05-28 5.7 VII Minor damage was reported at Yulara resort [30]
New South Wales Newcastle, New South Wales 1989-12-28 5.6 ML VIII 13 160 $4 billion in damage
New South Wales Ellalong 1994-08-06 5.4 5 1,000 homes and 50 other buildings damaged. Total damage $36 million. [31]
Victoria Mount Baw Baw 1996-09-25 5.0 VI Despite the minor damage reported around the quake's epicentre, this event is noteworthy as it was the largest earthquake in a swarm triggered by the creation of the Thomson Dam, dating back to the late 1970s. [32]
South Australia Burra 1997-03-05 5.0 No major damage. Felt over a wide area.
Western Australia Collier Bay 1997-08-10 6.3 Mw No major damage. Felt from Broome to Halls Creek and Kununurra. Strongest earthquake recorded in Australia since the 1988 Tennant Creek earthquake.
New South Wales Appin, New South Wales, southwest of Sydney 1999-03-17 4.8 V 65 kilometres (40 mi) southwest of Sydney, New South Wales. Depth only 3.2 km. Felt in Sydney and caused 1000 homes to lose power. [33]
Victoria Boolarra, Victoria 2000-08-29 5.0 V Caused minor damage. Felt strongly throughout Gippsland and Melbourne.
Victoria Swan Hill, Victoria 2001-10-27 4.8 V Felt in Swan Hill near VIC–NSW border, Minor damage including fallen chimneys and fallen shelve items. Power disruptions.
Tasmania Beaconsfield, Tasmania 2006-04-25 2.2 1 2 This micro earthquake triggered the Beaconsfiled Mine Collapse.
Western Australia Kalgoorlie 2010-04-20 5.2 Mw V 2 Extensive damage to buildings throughout Kalgoorlie- Boulder.
Victoria Gippsland 2012-06-19 5.4 ML VI 1 Minor extensive damage reported around the Gippsland area, including smashed windows, items thrown from shelves, destroyed chimneys, and ceiling tile collapses. An indirect minor injury reported from a man who fell from a ladder in Melbourne's suburbs. Damage bill in the millions. Largest aftershock was a magnitude 4.4 just over a month later, and was too felt across Gippsland and Melbourne.
Queensland Coral Sea 2015-07-30 5.5 Mw V Slight building damage [34]
New South Wales Orange, NSW 2017-04-13 4.3 Mw IV 3 Slight damage to Cadia-Ridgeway Mine and was felt in Orange, Bathurst, Blayney, Millthorpe, Molong and surrounds. Caused damage to houses and farms 7 km around. [35]
The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described are also applicable to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded. Mw = moment magnitude scale | Ms = surface wave magnitude | UK = Unknown

Other earthquakes

  • Broome, 16 August 1929, magnitude 6.6, offshore earthquake to the north-west of Broome, Western Australia.
  • Simpson Desert, 21 December 1937, magnitude 6.0, in a remote location of the Simpson Desert in the Northern Territory, south-east of Alice Springs.
  • Simpson Desert, 27 June 1941, magnitude 6.5, in a remote location of the Simpson Desert in the Northern Territory, south-east of Alice Springs.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NEWCASTLE". Trove. The Maitland Mercury. 23 June 1868. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "Gayndah, Qld: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Marion Leiba (December 2007). "Earthquakes in the Canberra Region" (PDF). Geoscience Australia. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  4. ↑ Hoy, Tiffany (July 10, 2012), Australia's worst earthquakes, Australian Geographic
  5. ↑ ""EARTHQUAKE" AT NEWCASTLE". Trove. The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times. 17 May 1906. Retrieved 11 Mar 2015.
  6. ↑ "A "CREEP" AT NEWCASTLE". Trove. The West Australian. 16 May 1906. Retrieved 11 Mar 2015.
  7. ↑ "Shock of Earthquake". Trove. The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer. 14 June 1916. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Bundaberg - Rockhampton, Qld: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  9. ↑ "Boolaroo (Hunter region) NSW: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  10. ↑ http://www.aees.org.au/Articles/McCue_TAS_EQs.pdf
  11. ↑ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51638653?
  12. ↑ 20 August 2011. Seismicity in Australia. University of Western Australia. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Gayndah, Qld: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  14. ↑ "Bass Strait Earthquake".
  15. ↑ "Unknown".
  16. ↑ "Launceston, Tas: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  17. ↑ "Dalton and Gunning, NSW: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  18. ↑ C. Kerr-Grant (10 November 1955). "The Adelaide Earthquake of 1st March 1954" (PDF). South Australian Museum. Retrieved 4 April 2009. ;
    "Adelaide, SA: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 17 August 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  19. ↑ Gabalong WA: Earthquake details. Geoscience Australia. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  20. ↑ "Seismicity of Western Australia - Large earthquakes of Western Australia". Seismicity.see.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  21. ↑ "Earthquakes @ GA — Earthquake Details". Ga.gov.au. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  22. ↑ "Unknown". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008.
  23. ↑ "The big shake..." Sun-Herald. 11 March 1973.
  24. ↑ "Unknown". Archived from the original on 13 September 2009.
  25. ↑ "The Cadoux Earthquake, 2 June 1979". Seismicity of Western Australia. University of Western Australia. 28 March 2004. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  26. ↑ "Earthquakes @ GA — Earthquake Details". Ga.gov.au. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  27. ↑ "Unknown". Archived from the original on 13 September 2009.
  28. ↑ Bowman, J.R. (November 1992). "The 1988 Tennant Creek, northern territory, earthquakes: A synthesis". Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 39 (5): 651–669. doi:10.1080/08120099208728056. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  29. ↑ http://www.emknowledge.gov.au/resource/?id=465
  30. ↑ "Unknown". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008.
  31. ↑ "Ellalong - Cessnock (Hunter Valley), NSW: Earthquake". EMA Disasters Database. Emergency Management Australia. 13 September 2006. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  32. ↑ "Baw Baw Highlights". Archived from the original on 28 May 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2009. ;
    "1996-09-25, Thomson Reservoir, Intensity Map". seismology research centre. Archived from the original on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  33. ↑ "AEES Newsletter" (PDF). aees.org.au. February 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  34. ↑ USGS. "M 5.5 - 128km ENE of Rainbow Beach, Australia". United States Geological Survey.
  35. ↑ Kathleen Calderwood. "NSW earthquake: Gold mine evacuated, residents in Orange woken up by shaking". ABC.

Sources

  • NGDC, Significant Earthquake Database, National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K

Media related to Earthquakes in Australia at Wikimedia Commons

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