Earthquakes in the Canberra Region - Geoscience Australia
Earthquakes in the Canberra Region - Geoscience Australia
Earthquakes in the Canberra Region - Geoscience Australia
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<strong>Earthquakes</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Canberra</strong> <strong>Region</strong>little aftershock immediately follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong> shock. In Conder, it was heard as a quickboom and <strong>the</strong> “walls vibrated and thudded”.On 4 October 2003 at 8.25 am local time, a magnitude ML 1.4 earthquake <strong>in</strong> Yarralumlawas felt by many residents <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ner sou<strong>the</strong>rn suburbs of <strong>Canberra</strong>. In Yarralumla andDeak<strong>in</strong> it gave <strong>the</strong> impression of a small explosion and w<strong>in</strong>dows rattled. In Garran it wasexperienced as a sharp, s<strong>in</strong>gle shake accompanied by quite a loud noise like a blast.However, at one locality <strong>in</strong> Norman Street, Deak<strong>in</strong>, <strong>the</strong> earthquake was experienced morespectacularly. The resident reported a “massive” explosion dur<strong>in</strong>g which <strong>the</strong> whole houseshook, w<strong>in</strong>dows rattled violently, <strong>the</strong> front door opened, and <strong>the</strong> TV, small tables andornaments all moved. Even <strong>the</strong> dogs stopped bark<strong>in</strong>g for a m<strong>in</strong>ute.<strong>Earthquakes</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sutton area, January 1996 – November 2007Small earthquakes <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> vic<strong>in</strong>ity of Sutton are not uncommon, and because of <strong>in</strong>creasedactivity (an “earthquake swarm”) dur<strong>in</strong>g this period, Sutton earthquakes are discussedseparately <strong>in</strong> this section. However, for <strong>the</strong> first part of <strong>the</strong> decade, activity was not high.In 1996, two earthquakes occurred <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sutton area.On 11 April 1996 at 9.45 am local time, a magnitude 1.7 earthquake, 7 km west of Suttonand about 14 km NNE of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Canberra</strong> GPO, was heard near <strong>the</strong> epicentre as a loudexplosion. It was also heard at Deak<strong>in</strong>.The second earthquake happened at 6.16 am local time on 21 June 1996 and had amagnitude of 1.0. Its epicentre was 4 km east of Sutton and 20 km nor<strong>the</strong>ast of <strong>the</strong><strong>Canberra</strong> GPO. It probably was too small and too early <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> morn<strong>in</strong>g for residents tohave felt it, and no reports were received.<strong>Geoscience</strong> <strong>Australia</strong>’s earthquake database has records of only one o<strong>the</strong>r Suttonearthquake before <strong>the</strong> start of <strong>the</strong> swarm activity. It was a magnitude ML 2.0 event at 2.06am local time on 22 October 1997. It was not reported felt, presumbly because peoplewere asleep.The Sutton earthquake swarm started <strong>in</strong> September 2001 and cont<strong>in</strong>ued until December2002. The earthquake database has records of 21 earthquakes with magnitudes <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>range ML 1.2 - 2.5 <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> vic<strong>in</strong>ity of Sutton, NSW, dur<strong>in</strong>g this period. Ten of <strong>the</strong>se werereported heard/felt, <strong>the</strong> first be<strong>in</strong>g at 2.23 am local time on 28 December 2001, when aresident of Bywong, <strong>in</strong> Harriot Road off Macs Reef Road, heard a loud bang like anexplosion and her house rattled. She said that this magnitude ML 1.9 earthquake wokeher neighbour.The highest level of seismic activity <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sutton area dur<strong>in</strong>g 2001-2002 was <strong>in</strong> January –February 2002 when 12 earthquakes were recorded by <strong>Geoscience</strong> <strong>Australia</strong>’sseismographs. Seven of those <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> earthquake database, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g one as small asmagnitude ML 1.2, were reported heard/felt <strong>in</strong> Bywong. In addition, five not <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>database were reported heard/felt by a family <strong>in</strong> New<strong>in</strong>gton Road, off Macs Reef Road,Bywong - two on January 17th, one on <strong>the</strong> 23rd, one on <strong>the</strong> 25th and one on <strong>the</strong> 29th. The17