PIRSA Minerals

Jump to content

 

Navigation

 

Major Earthquakes in South Australia

 

BeachPort Magnitude 6.5 10th May, 1897

This is the largest earthquake to have occurred in South Australia since 1837. It caused massive damage in the South East at Kingston, Robe and Beachport, and caused minor damage even in Adelaide. It was felt as far away as Port Augusta and Melbourne. Near the epicentre there were several cases of liquefaction, some spectacular. It is thought that the epicentre was offshore. No tsunami was reported, but aftershocks continued for months.

isomap1897_i
Intensity map
(pdf file ~ 50kb)
Photo 1  Slumping near Lake Battye
Photo 2  Slumping near Robe
Photo 3  Slumping near Robe
Photo 4  Damage to the Beachport Post Office
Warooka Magnitude 6.0 19th September, 1902

This earthquake caused severe damage on Yorke Peninsula particularly at Warooka, but also at Yankalilla and other nearby places. There was widespread, but not great damage around Adelaide. It was originally thought that the epicentre was at Warooka, but more recent work suggests that it was in St Vincent Gulf. There was no tsunami or liquefaction reported, but this event did cause at least two deaths, the first known deaths from an earthquake in Australia. There were a number of aftershocks.

isomap1902_i
Intensity map (original)
(pdf file ~ 50kb)		 isomap1902m_i
Intensity map (revised)
(pdf file ~ 50kb)
Photo 1  Building damage at Warooka
Photo 2  Building damage at Warooka
Photo 3  Building damage at Warooka
Adelaide Magnitude 5.5 1st March, 1954

This is the most infamous earthquake in South Australia. Occurring in the early hours of the morning, it woke most people across the metropolitan area. A few buildings in the Darlington area were demolished. Widespread cracking was reported, however it is thought that many cases were pre-existing cracking from soil problems. The insurance payout was about 3 million pounds. There were many reports of lights in the sky before the event. No surface rupture was found. It is thought that the earthquake happened on the Eden-Burnside fault at a fairly shallow depth. There was only one tiny aftershock.

isomap1954k_i
Intensity map (original)
(pdf file ~ 40kb)

isomap1954m_i
Intensity map (revised)
(pdf file ~ 70kb)
Photo 1  GPO Clock
Photo 2  Britannia Statue, Pirie St. Damaged in 1897, 1902 and 1954, the clock was removed after the 1954 event.
Photo 3  Plaster damage
Photo 4  Damage to house in Seacombe Park
Marryat Creek Magnitude 6.0 30th March, 1986

This earthquake occurred in the far north of the state, just south of the Northern Territory border. It is the only earthquake in South Australia since 1837 where we can match a surface rupture with an earthquake report. The rupture was a boomerang shape, pointing NE, and about 14kms long. The maximum movement was about 0.8m in the E-W direction and 0.6m in the vertical direction.

webmap1986_i
Location map
(60kb)
Photo 1  Fault scarp