Salisbury Homestead Eartquake
346 views · Published 26 May 2013 · 5:15 · Indexed 23 October 2026
Channel: Miss_Marie · 2013 · Travel & Events
Coming back from the outback of West Aus I stopped off at a remarkable phenomenon here in WA. Here is some info. At 10.59a.m., on 14th October, 1968, the small town of Meckering, about 130 km east of Perth, was destroyed by an earthquake. Twenty people were injured, but incredibly, no one was killed. The earthquake was felt throughout the southern half of the State and caused damage in the surrounding townships, particularly York and Northam, and in the Perth Metropolitan area. The magnitude (ML) of the Meckering Earthquake was 6.9 on the Richter Scale making it one of the largest recorded in the seismic history of Australia. Although the magnitude was moderate the focus of the earthquake was only about 7km deep and the surface intensity reached MMIX on the Modified Mercalli scale. The earthquake and its aftershocks were accompanied by surface faulting extending over an area of 200 km2 and an arcuate dextral thrust fault 37 km long was formed. Many smaller faults were generated by the earthquake, principally within the quadrant formed by the main thrust scarp, and there is some evidence to suggest that movement on at least one of these faults took place several days after the main fault formation. The Meckering Fault was the first tectonic ground breakage to be recorded in Australia. The Meckering Earthquake was located in a well-documented zone of seismic activity which is about 60 km wide and extends across the southwest corner of Western Australia. Seventeen months after the main event at Meckering, at 1.15 a.m. on 11th March 1970, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred at Calingiri, 80 km northwest of Meckering. This earthquake was again shallow, with a focal depth of about 1 km, and was accompanied by surface faulting similar to that at Meckering. This location of the faulting at Meckering and Calingiri, in an otherwise stable Precambrian Shield, has shown that damaging earthquakes are a potential hazard in Western Australia, and are not confined to the margins of the major lithospheric plates.
