Seismological Association of Australia

by Kevin McCue There were just 88 South Australian earthquakes reported to newspapers in the decade 1870-1879. Five earthquakes were of magnitude 4 or more, the two larger earthquakes were of magnitude ML4.2, and occurred between Tanunda and Truro on 13 November 1874 and at Clare on 30 November 1879. In November 1873 reports of… Continue reading South Australian earthquakes 1870-1879

by Kevin McCue This decade saw a surge of interest in earthquakes in South Australia, partly due to the growth of communication with the overland telegraph service, partly the intersecting interest of a few leading scientists in the UK and Australia including Milne and Todd, and also an apparent significantly higher level of seismic activity… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1880-1889

by Kevin McCue Introduction The first earthquake deaths reported in Australia followed the second large earthquake in 5 years in South Australia, on 19 September 1902, the epicentre in Gulf St Vincent as best we can determine. An even earlier deaths has been uncovered here. The 1902 earthquake was the tipping point for the government… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1890-1897

Kevin McCue IntroductionThe first earthquake deaths reported in Australia followed the second large earthquake in 5 years in South Australia, on 19 September 1902, the epicentre in Gulf St Vincent as best we can determine. This earthquake was the tipping point for the government to finally agree to provide a seismograph in the state, after… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1900-1909

by Kevin McCue IntroductionThis study of earthquakes in South Australia using newspaper reports began, for the author, in 1975 and is not finished yet as more newspapers are digitised by the National Library of Australia. It confirms that earthquakes of the modern instrumental period following on from the International Geophysical Year in 1957/58 occur in… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1910-1919

by Kevin McCue Introduction Newspaper searches following new scans by the Australian National Library have recovered 40 previously undocumented earthquakes in South Australia and information to revise known historical earthquakes over the decade of the 1920s. There are fewer than expected based on the frequency of earthquakes there in the instrumental period (Love, 1996). These… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1920-1929

by Kevin McCue Introduction The decade of the 1930s showed significant fluctuations in annual numbers of earthquakes identified, located and assigned a magnitude, varying between 0 in 1938 and 17 in 1939 with a mean of 5.5. There were 8 earthquakes in 1939 excluding aftershocks of the damaging Nilpena earthquake near Parachilna on 26 March… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1930-1939

by Kevin McCue Introduction This is the first or last of a series of reports discussing the seismicity of South Australia by decade prior to the establishment of a useful seismograph network there from 1958 to 1963. The 1950s was a most important decade for the science of seismology and the practice of earthquake engineering… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1950-1959

by Kevin McCue Introduction In the decade of the 1940s shown in the histogram in Figure 1 the number of detected and located earthquakes per year varied between 3 and 12 with a mean of 4.75/year, almost identical to the previous decade. The largest earthquake was the M6.5 Simpson Desert earthquake on 27 June 1941,… Continue reading South Australian Earthquakes 1940-1949

Kevin McCue Introduction Seventy years ago at 3:40am on Monday morning the 1st March 1954, a strong earthquake shook Adelaide and the region damaging buildings and injuring 4 people. It was shear luck that no one died. It cost insurance companies more than £3M to repair insured buildings. Few businesses, churches and some housing were… Continue reading The 1954 Adelaide Earthquake in review