In 2017 Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) completed the State Natural Hazard Risk Assessment which evaluated the risks presented by seven in-scope natural hazards. The risks presented by earthquakes were evaluated as part of this assessment in broad terms. The assessment highlighted a number of key vulnerabilities and risks presented by earthquakes to the communities of Queensland requiring further analysis. As QFES matures the Queensland Emergency Risk Management Framework (QERMF) by working with Local and District Disaster Management Groups (LDMGs/DDMGs), opportunities have arisen whereby QFES, in collaboration with relevant Federal and State Government and industry partners, are in a position to provide State-level support to LDMGs and DDMGs, through the development of in-depth risk assessments. The State Natural Hazard Risk Assessment 2017 and the State Disaster Management Plan 2018 note that the QERMF, as the endorsed methodology for the assessment of disaster related risk, is intended to: • Provide consistent guidance in understanding disaster risk that acts as a conduit for publicly available risk information. This approach assists in establishing and implementing a framework for collaboration and sharing of information in disaster risk management, including risk informed disaster risk reduction strategies and plans. • Encourage holistic risk assessments that provide an understanding of the many different dimensions of disaster risk (hazards, exposures, vulnerabilities, capability and capacities). The assessments include diverse types of direct and indirect impacts of disaster, such as physical, social, economic, environmental and institutional. The assessment and its intended audience This risk assessment was developed using the QERMF to undertake a scenario-based analysis of Queensland’s earthquake risk. It is intended to complement and support LDMGs and DDMGs in the completion of their risk-based disaster management plans. The development of the State Earthquake Risk Assessment 2018 was supported by Geoscience Australia (GA) through the provision of expert advice, relevant spatial datasets and the development of the scenarios used through this assessment. Input has been sought from GA to help contextualise the findings of the National Seismic Hazard Assessment 2018 for Queensland. Consultation with the University of Queensland has been sought to provide the ‘Queensland Context’, capitalising on the 80-year history of earthquake research and study undertaken by the university. A robust scientific basis enhances the assessment and enables disaster management groups to inform their local level planning. Overall, the assessment and associated report seeks to complement and build upon existing Local and District earthquake risk assessments by providing updated and validated information relating to the changes in understanding Queensland’s earthquake potential.

Damaging earthquakes in Australia and other regions characterised by low seismicity are considered low probability but high consequence events. Uncertainties in modelling earthquake occurrence rates and ground motions for damaging earthquakes in these regions pose unique challenges to forecasting seismic hazard, including the use of this information as a reliable benchmark to improve seismic safety within our communities. Key challenges for assessing seismic hazards in these regions are explored, including: the completeness and continuity of earthquake catalogues; the identification and characterisation of neotectonic faults; the difficulties in characterising earthquake ground motions; the uncertainties in earthquake source modelling, and the use of modern earthquake hazard information to support the development of future building provisions. Geoscience Australia recently released its 2018 National Seismic Hazard Assessment (NSHA18). Results from the NSHA18 indicate significantly lower seismic hazard across almost all Australian localities at the 1/500 annual exceedance probability level relative to the factors adopted for the current Australian Standard AS1170.4–2007 (R2018). These new hazard estimates have challenged notions of seismic hazard in Australia in terms of the recurrence of damaging ground motions. Consequently, this raises the question of whether current practices in probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) deliver the outcomes required to protect communities and infrastructure assets in low-seismicity regions, such as Australia. This manuscript explores a range of measures that could be undertaken to update and modernise the Australian earthquake loading standard, in light of these modern seismic hazard estimates, including the use of alternate ground-motion exceedance probabilities for assigning seismic demands for ordinary-use structures. The estimation of seismic hazard at any location is an uncertain science, particularly in low-seismicity regions. However, as our knowledge of the physical characteristics of earthquakes improve, our estimates of the hazard will converge more closely to the actual – but unknowable – (time independent) hazard. Understanding the uncertainties in the estimation of seismic hazard is also of key importance, and new software and approaches allow hazard modellers to better understand and quantify this uncertainty. It is therefore prudent to regularly update the estimates of the seismic demands in our building codes using the best available evidence-based methods and models.

This poster presents a summary of discussion topics following the 2018 Lake Muir, WA, Earthquake Sequence Community Engagement Workshop held in Frankland River, WA, on 28 November 2018

Segmented time series data for earthquake events. Data are in raw digital counts and have associated instrument metadata for calibration to physical ground-motion measures. These data are used to inform a range of applications in seismic hazard assessment and for assessing the utility of current observatory practice for magnitude assessment. <b>Value: </b>Used in the selection and development of ground-motion models used for seismic hazard purposes. These data also enable the assessment and development of new earthquake magnitude formulae. <b>Scope: </b>Data has been collected on an ad hoc basis, some early digital data dates back to 1989 (i.e. Newcastle earthquake), and the dataset continues to grow as earthquakes of interest occur, or various temporary deployments are rolled out. Instrument metadata is not always known.

Damaging earthquakes are less frequent in Australia when compared to other weather-related events, but when they do occur close to a community they can cause major damage and injury. This risk to property and life exists for building owners, particularly if the building is of vulnerable construction. The good news is that your building can be retrofitted to improve its earthquake resilience within a sensible budget without compromising its heritage value. This document seeks to show you how. It explains the nature of earthquake risk and provides resources for building owners on how the risk can be reduced for the most vulnerable building construction type: unreinforced masonry.

Even though the Australian continent sits within a major tectonic plate, it is affected by earthquakes. Each year, more than 100 earthquakes measuring 3.0 or more on the Richter scale are felt across Australia, with the majority affecting Western Australia—more than X since 1900. Many of these earthquakes are focused around York. Despite the prevalence of earthquakes in the region, the risks have not consistently been recognised during building design and construction. This means many buildings - particularly older masonry buildings - are susceptible to damage from earthquakes.

While damaging earthquakes are less frequent in Australia when compared to other weather related events, when they do occur close to communities they can cause major damage and injury. This community risk to life, property, social fabric and the local economy is significant. The risk also presents associated challenges for government agencies with a role in emergency response, health care and community recovery both in the short and longer term. For some communities recovery to pre-event conditions may never be fully realised due to the destruction of heritage value that may be central to local business activity. Resources for building resilience to earthquakes need to be prioritised against those needed for other hazards. What are the benefits of earthquake retrofit of high risk buildings to communities and what exemplars of risk management driven from government exist? What resources exist for a business case to be articulated for limited resources and for motivating investment by property owners to reduce their individual risk? This document seeks provide useful answer these questions. It presents information that explains the nature of earthquake hazard in Australia, the risk it presents and vulnerability factors behind it. It also provides information on the effectiveness of retrofit in reducing the impact of earthquakes, emergency management logistics and recovery needs. It further provides links to resources that can be used to advance local programs for building community resilience. The primary focus is the most vulnerable building construction type, unreinforced masonry, but the principles are informative to the address of other high risk building types in communities.

Damaging earthquakes are less frequent in Australia when compared to weather related events, but when they occur close to communities they can cause significant damage and injury. This community risk to life, property, social fabric, valued community heritage and the local economy is significant and is gaining recognition. Some state and local governments are seeking to raise awareness of earthquake risk with property owners and are targeting grants schemes to promote cost shared investment in retrofit activity. Where property owners do take the initiative to address structural deficiencies they need the assistance of design professionals and a skilled construction industry to undertake retrofit with due address of heritage considerations. If you work in either domain, this document will assist you. This document is aimed to be a resource for you when discussing retrofit needs and options with clients and translating their retrofit objectives to detailed design, documentation and implementation. The primary focus is the most vulnerable building construction type in Australia, older unreinforced masonry, but the principles are informative to address other high risk building types. The objective is cost-effective retrofit measures with minimised disruption to occupants that can address a significant portion of the earthquake risk to the building owner and the community more broadly. It presents information that explains the nature of earthquake hazard in Australia, the risk it presents and the vulnerability factors that contribute to it. It further describes the common failure modes that can be highlighted to clients and a range of measures that can be employed to preclude these. It also links to other resources that can be drawn upon in developing tailored design solutions that the construction industry can readily implement.

Contains local, blast and teleseismic event information from SA network. 2002-2017

Seismic data form South Australian Network. Stations: ADE, ALV2, DNL, FR27, GHS, GHSS, GLN, GLN2, HML1, HML2, HTT, KNC, MRAT, MYP, NBK, PLMR, SDAN, STR2, TORR, UT, UTT. Date range,2006-2017, not definitive. Some logs files.