In the vast, isolated expanse of the Nullarbor Plain, a magnitude-4.7 earthquake struck near the Cocklebiddy Roadhouse in Western Australia, yet only one person felt it. This seismic event, detected by seismometers across the country, highlights the extreme remoteness of the region.
Tyson Allamson, a worker at the roadhouse, was shaken awake at around 3am. "I woke up and was like, 'That's not normal'," he said. "It went for about three minutes, then stopped." Despite the quake's intensity, there were no reports of damage.
Seismic Detection Across Australia
Geoscience Australia's network of 100 seismometers picked up the quake, with instruments in Darwin, Canberra, and Charters Towers recording the event. Senior seismologist Jonathan Griffin noted that a magnitude-4.7 is a "decent-sized event," but damage typically occurs at magnitude-5 or higher, especially near poorly constructed buildings.
A Region with a Seismic History
This earthquake is the largest recorded in WA this year, following a series of magnitude-4.7 quakes in 2023. In April, a magnitude-5.5 earthquake struck remote South Australia. The region has a history of significant seismic activity, including the 2010 magnitude-5 earthquake near Kalgoorlie-Boulder, which caused severe damage and evacuated a gold mine.
Australia experiences on average one magnitude-5 earthquake per year and about 100 of magnitude 3. Dr. Griffin explained, "Magnitude-5 is about 30 times larger than a magnitude-4, in terms of the energy released."
This event underscores the challenges of monitoring and responding to natural disasters in remote areas, where human impact may be minimal but scientific data is invaluable.
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