Authors / CoAuthors
Martin, S. S. | Cummins, P. R | Griffin, J. D. | Clark, D. J. | Allen, T. I.
Abstract
Eastern Queensland (Australia) was struck by a major earthquake at ≈04:14 a.m. local time on 7 June 1918. Most previous studies have suggested that the epicenter of this earthquake lies off the coast of Bundaberg, between the port cities of Gladstone and Rockhampton. This epicentral location was based upon instrumental observations from the Riverview College observatory in Sydney. However, this epicenter lies ≈250 km to the northeast of an inland region that experienced both the strongest shaking effects and numerous felt aftershocks. We revisited available macroseismic data from 224 geographic locations and surviving instrumental observations for the 1918 Queensland earthquake to show that the most likely epicentral location was inland at ≈24.93° S and ≈150.88° E in the Banana Shire and North Burnett region. The re‐estimated instrumental magnitude of <i>M</i><sub>w </sub>6.0 ± 0.3 (1<i>σ</i>) makes it one of the largest onshore earthquakes in eastern Australia in the past century. Our observations also offer support for a viewpoint proposed in 1935 by an eminent Queensland geologist, Walter Heywood Bryan, that the 1918 earthquake was inland. Our study highlights the benefit of the critical evaluation of primary source materials, both archival and seismological, to study historical earthquakes in Australia that are relevant for modern seismic hazard analysis. <b>Citation:</b> Stacey S. Martin, Phil R. Cummins, Jonathan D. Griffin, Dan Clark, Trevor I. Allen; Resolving the Location and Magnitude of the 1918 Queensland (Bundaberg), Australia, Earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 2024;; 114 (6): 3202–3223. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120240029
Product Type
document
eCat Id
149231
Contact for the resource
Resource provider
Point of contact
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Point of contact
Keywords
- ( Project )
-
- National Seismic Hazard Assessment
-
- earthquake catalogue
-
- seismic hazard
-
- macroseismic intensity
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
-
- Seismology and Seismic Exploration
-
- Published_External
Publication Date
2024-12-16T05:59:25
Creation Date
2024-02-09T20:00:00
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
completed
Purpose
Improvement of the historical earthquake catalogue
Maintenance Information
notPlanned
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Volume 114 Number 6 December 2024 3202-3223
Lineage
<div>Improves the historical earthquake catalogue for better earthquake hazard characterisation</div>
Parent Information
Extents
[-30.00, -9.00, 138.00, 154.00]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Association Type - wasInformedBy
Geoscience Australia Earthquake Catalogue
eCat Identifier - 144691,
UUID - 2dfd734f-8a40-4280-b8ae-c34efe85304c
Association Type - wasInformedBy
The 2018 National Seismic Hazard Assessment for Australia: Earthquake Epicentre Catalogue
eCat Identifier - 123041,
UUID - 68196729-da2a-4c2c-8df4-cca4ce278d60
Association Type - wasInformedBy
eCat Identifier - 123139,
UUID - bb2a574a-9556-4a3c-b1f1-2442823084c6
Association Type - wasInformedBy
The 2023 National Seismic Hazard Assessment for Australia. Earthquake Hypocentre Catalogue
eCat Identifier - 149186,
UUID - 65aad7ca-2b25-4a4d-816c-aae51a57c4cf
Association Type - operatesOn
The 2018 National Seismic Hazard Assessment: Model overview
eCat Identifier - 123020,
UUID - 9456a1ee-400d-43fa-bce3-58d1cd8cdf55
Association Type - operatesOn
The 2023 National Seismic Hazard Assessment for Australia. Model Overview
eCat Identifier - 148969,
UUID - 86d9ffcf-8bbf-4aad-b6c4-70fcae2be457
Source Information