Potential geologic sources of seismic hazard in Australia’s south-eastern highlands: what do we know?

Many mapped faults in the south-eastern highlands of New South Wales and Victoria are associated with apparently youthful topographic ranges, suggesting that active faulting may have played a role in shaping the modern landscape. This has been demonstrated to be the case for the Lake George Fault, and may reasonably be inferred for the poorly characterised Murrumbidgee, Khancoban, Tantangara, Berridale Wrench and Tawonga faults. More than a dozen nearby faults with similar relief are uncharacterised. In general, fault locations and extents are inconsistent across scales of geologic mapping, and rupture lengths and slip rates and behaviours remain largely unquantified. A more comprehensive understanding of these faults is required to support safety assessments for communities and large infrastructure.