Geoscience Australia’s National Earthquake Alerts Centre (NEAC) has continued to record small aftershocks more than one month on from the largest earthquake to hit south-eastern Australia in over 200 years.
Commenting on the findings, Minister for Resources and Water, Keith Pitt said the 5.9 magnitude earthquake which hit north of Rawson, Victoria on 22 September was felt across six States and Territories.
Mr Pitt said the quake demonstrated the valuable role the NEAC played in detecting and preparing for disasters.
“Seismic analysts were able to provide Emergency Management Australia’s National Situation Room with preliminary details about the size, location and depth of the quake approximately 10 minutes after this earthquake occurred,” he said.
“This information helped local emergency managers gauge the severity of the quake and start mobilising their response.
“The NEAC has detected approximately 30 aftershocks in the month following the quake, ranging in magnitude from 2.2 to 4.1.”
Mr Pitt said Geoscience Australia’s Earthquakes@GA website also received more than 40,000 felt reports in the first 24 hours, setting a new record for an Australian earthquake.
The Minister said felt reports, made by members of the public, were used to produce a calibrated ShakeMap showing the modelled ground-motion intensity over a broader area.
“The NEAC is continuing to receive felt reports from the community and will continue to assess the shaking intensity of each report,” he said.
“This ‘citizen science’ will feed into Geoscience Australia’s seismic hazard modelling work, which will help keep Australians safer in future.”
Mr Pitt said no technology could predict earthquakes but “we can certainly prepare for them”.
He said Geoscience Australia had deployed additional seismometers in the area where the quake occurred to monitor for aftershocks in the weeks and months ahead.
“All of this information helps our scientists learn more about the earthquake, which will improve hazard estimates and guide building design, helping to make our community safer,” Mr Pitt said.
Geoscience Australia’s Earthquakes@GA website can be accessed at this PS News link.
