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(X-UWA~STICS OF THE DISASTER
EVESJT:
DATE-TIME:
LOCATION:
DAMAGES :
Earthquake
October 14, 1968 at 02:59 GMT
Perth and surrounding area, especially Meckering,
75 miles east of Perth
Homeless Claims for houses or repairs
None About 400
3,874
75% of Meckering's houses were destroyed or badly
damaged. Dollar damage was placed at $2.6 million.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DISASTER
The earthquake struck just before Noon local time and lasted for 24 seconds.
It had a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale. It was felt as far north as
Geraldton, 300 miles from Perth, inland to Kalgoorlie and 400 miles south
- to Esperance. The center of the quake
was believed to be the Darling Range
Escarpment and the town of Meckering
suffered the most damage. The severity
of the earthquake can be gauged
to some extent f'rom the fact the main
fault in the earth, in the close,
proximity to Meckering, measured some
27 miles in length with the earth's
surface rising some five to six feet
at the fault line and diminishing to
nothing over a length of five miles to
the West and ten miles to the East.
AUSTRALIA
Cracks in the earth surface of up to
3 feet in width were frequent and the
town of Meckering rose one foot.
Perth is the capital of Western Australia,
located on the southwest coast
and has a population of 600,000. There
was considerable damage in Perth in the
form of cracks in buildings, some
collapsed walls and ceilings, and