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| Down Under |
| 4.0 Quake hits Down Under |
| 2006-10-22 |
| RESIDENTS of the NSW central west mistook a magnitude four earthquake in the area last night for a thunderstorm. Geoscience Australia says the quake struck shortly before 8pm (AEST) yesterday at Wyangala, approximately half way between Bathurst and Young. There have been no reports of damage, although people from as far as 100km away have reported feeling the tremor. "It sounds like people have felt it from a couple of hundred kilometres away, which is a little unusual for a magnitude four," Geoscience Australia's senior seismologist Phil Cummins told news agency AAP. This was probably due to the quake's depth, about 15km below ground, Mr Cummins said. He described the quake as "moderate". Marianna Xerri, an employee at the Wyangala Waters State Park, told AAP the quake created more noise than shake at her home, 16km south of Wyangala. "I've been in earthquakes before, and your clothes hangers all shake in the cupboard and all that sort of thing, but it didn't do that," Mrs Xerri said. "It was the noise, it was more like a thunderstorm, like a rolling thunderstorm." The sound lasted about 20 seconds, she said. "It wasn't long but it was strange." Geoscience Australia will use the data from the quake to assist in predicting the effects of larger earthquakes. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #5 Can kick that puppy up wherever the ground lies. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-10-22 12:31 |
| #4 The three 8.0+ quakes in New Madrid (Dec 16, 1811 - Feb 7, 1812) Like the sign at the New Madrid museum says: "It's our fault!" |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-10-22 09:53 |
| #3 Intraplate earthquakes are, obviously, not as common, but they certainly do occur - and some have been among the largest on record. The three 8.0+ quakes in New Madrid (Dec 16, 1811 - Feb 7, 1812) and the 7.9 Bhuj quake (Jan 26, 2001 - killed approx 20,000) in India are good examples. The science on them is speculative, but with enough grants... |
| Posted by: .com 2006-10-22 05:20 |
| #2 anon1, plates move, ever so slightly, but they do move. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-10-22 02:47 |
| #1 weird. We are a continent and don't sit on any fault lines. fault line runs up under New Zealand and joins the northern plate which runs across the top through indonesia. Why do earthquakes happen where there are no faults? No plates grinding against each other, so why? |
| Posted by: anon1 2006-10-22 01:39 |