Australian Tremors

A pair of shallow 4th magnitude earthquakes struck northern and southern parts of Australia yesterday.

Saturday 7th March 2009

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 225 km north-north-west of Broome, Western Australia at 2:36 Friday afternoon, New Zealand time. The off-shore quake was estimated to be about 10 km deep.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the area has hosted a number of quakes since 1990 and, while a few have been magnitude 5, most were 4th magnitude or less.

Geoscience Australia reports this quake as magnitude 5.1 at a depth of 0 km, noting that it would have caused damage within 14 km of the epicentre, and would have been felt up to 190 km away, meaning that some residents on the coast of Dampier Land may have felt the tremor.

A magnitude 4.7 quake struck 90 km south-east of Melbourne, Victoria at 10:56 Friday night, New Zealand time. The 10 km deep quake was located on-shore in an area where about a dozen quakes of magnitude 4 or less have been recorded since 1990, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Geoscience Australia reports this event at magnitude 4.6 at a depth of 8 km. They estimate that the quake would have caused damage within 9 km of the epicentre, and would have been felt up to 113 km away, a distance that includes Australia’s second largest city of Melbourne.

Two further earthquakes of magnitude 3.1 were reported nearby in Victoria at 4:53 this morning and a quarter past midday, New Zealand time.

[Compiled from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and Geoscience Australia and their contributing agencies.]

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