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1902 - South Australia - Warooka
This magnitude 6.0 earthquake is the second largest known South Australian earthquake. The epicentre was probably in the Gulf of St Vincent between Warooka and Adelaide. It caused significant damage to several stone and masonry buildings in Warooka, including a school, and was the first earthquake to do damage in Adelaide. It was also the first earthquake in Australia known to have caused fatalities – two people in Adelaide died of heart attacks. -
1918 - Queensland - Bundaberg
This magnitude 6.0 earthquake at 4.15am local time on 7 June 1918 is the largest known Queensland earthquake. The epicentre was probably about 100km off the coast between Rockhampton and Gladstone. The earthquake was felt from Mackay to Grafton (NSW) and west to Charleville. It caused some damage in Rockhampton and Bundaberg, and stopped many clocks, including the one in the Pile Light in Brisbane, where it was felt in most suburbs. -
1934 - New South Wales - Dalton-Gunning
This magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurred at 7.59am local time on 19 November 1934. It was preceded by a week of foreshocks and was followed by a long series of aftershocks. It was felt widely over south-eastern New South Wales with the worst damage in Gunning where trees were felled, rocks split, and fissures opened in the ground and almost all stone and masonry buildings were damaged. Damage was also extensive at Dalton. This earthquake had the same magnitude as the notorious 1989 Newcastle earth -
1941 - Western Australia - Meeberrie
The Meeberrie earthquake is Australia's most powerful known onshore Australian earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2. It was felt over a wide area of Western Australia from Port Hedland in the north to Albany and Norseman in the south. Because the population in the epicentral area was sparse, the damage was small, but it cracked all walls of Meeberrie Homestead, burst rainwater tanks and cracked the ground. -
1946 - Tasmania - West Tasman Sea (Flinders Island)
The largest south-eastern Australian earthquake last century occurred 100 km east of Flinders Island on 14 September 1946. Its magnitude was 6.0 and it was felt strongly throughout Tasmania and Gippsland, Victoria. It caused minor damage in Launceston, where a hotel guest was slightly injured by an 18 kg piece of plaster that bruised his leg. He escaped serious injury because he was awake and saw the plaster falling from the ceiling. -
1954 - South Australia - Adelaide
On 1 March 1954 most people in Adelaide were awakened by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake, the first felt earthquake recorded in that city in almost 100 years. It resulted in three serious injuries and damage to 3000 buildings, including collapsed and cracked walls, smashed windows and collapsed chimneys, and 30,000 insurance claims were filed. A magnitude 3.2 aftershock was felt two days later. -
1968 - Western Australia - Meckering
Although the magnitude 6.9 Meckering earthquake of October 1968 was not the largest in Western Australia's history, it was certainly the most significant in terms of damage done and cultural upheaval. It caused ground rupturing almost 40km long, some of which can still be seen. In Meckering, a bank, hotel, shire hall, three churches and 60 of about 75 houses were wrecked. Where the fault crossed the highway, the road had an approximately 1.5 m high step in it. Railway lines were buckled, and a w -
1979 - Western Australia - Cadoux
This 6.2 magnitude earthquake caused surface faulting, with many homes and buildings damaged or destroyed. Despite the township of Cadoux, population 36, being wrecked, only one person was injured. Roads, railway lines, pipes and power lines were damaged. Some buildings 180km away in Perth also sustained structural damage. -
1988 - Northern Territory - Tennant Creek
A series of three powerful earthquakes ranging from 6.3 to 6.7 in magnitude shook the region with each occurring about half an hour apart. The main infrastructure damage was severe warping of a major natural gas pipeline as large ground ruptures occurred and a 35km long fault scarp with up to two metres vertical displacement was formed.
Foreshocks started a year before the three large earthquakes, and thousands of aftershock followed over a number of years. -
1989 - New South Wales - Newcastle
One of Australia's most serious natural disasters occurred on 28 December 1989 when an earthquake shook Newcastle in New South Wales, leaving 13 people dead and more than 160 injured. The damage bill has been estimated at A$4 billion, including an insured loss of more than A$1 billion. The earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6 with an epicentre about 15km south of the Newcastle central business district at an estimated depth of 11km. Only one aftershock, magnitude 2.1, was recorded.
The effects were -
1992 - Northern Territory - Arnhem Land
This magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred at 8.48pm local time on 30 September 1992 off the coast of Arnhem Land. It is Australia’s deepest known earthquake with a focal depth of 39 km. It was felt most strongly at Nhulunbuy, Milingimbi and Maningrida. At Nhulunbuy there was one report of cracked plaster, and a reliable observer saw waves ripple a concrete pavement. A naval ship anchored off Maningrida shook violently with the shaking apparently transmitted up the anchor chain. -
1997 - Western Australia - Collier Bay
This magnitude 6.3 earthquake at 5.20pm WST on 10 August 1997 was felt strongly across the Kimberley region of north-western WA with reports received from Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing, Derby, Broome and even as far as Darwin and Kununurra 600km away. Some damage was reported on Cockatoo Island 70km from the epicentre where concrete spalled off the RC footings of some houses built for the now disused mine, and a water tank was damaged. On Margaret Island steel poles supporting a shelter bent at -
2000 - Victoria - Boolarra South
This magnitude 5.0 earthquake occurred on 29 August 2000 just west of Boolarra in Gippsland and 130km southeast of Melbourne. There were unconfirmed reports of minor damage in Gippsland where it was felt strongly. It was felt in all suburbs of Melbourne. It had only one recorded foreshock of magnitude 2.6 and an aftershock with a magnitude of 1.5. -
2010 - Western Australia - Kalgoorlie
On 20 April 2010 a magnitude 5.0 earthquake, which caused significant damage in Kalgoorlie, occurred under the southern part of Boulder, at a depth of approximately 1.7km. Five temporary recording systems were deployed around which recorded aftershocks between 22 April and 8 June. The epicentres of the aftershocks extend 3km in an N-S direction, providing an estimate of the overall rupture length of the main shock. A large fault occurs just to the east of the main shock and dips in the direction -
2012 - Victoria - Moe
This magnitude 5.4 earthquake occurred on 19 June 2012 at 8:53pm local time and was 10km southwest of Moe and 130km southeast of Melbourne. The earthquake was felt right across Victoria, with reports of it being felt from as far away as Deniliquin in NSW, around 330km from the epicentre. There were over 300 aftershocks recorded, the largest of which was a magnitude 4.4 recorded on the 20th of July 2012. The Moe earthquake was the largest earthquake recorded in Victoria sinc
