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A geophysical investigation of the 2018 Lake Muir earthquake sequence: reactivated Precambrian structures controlling modern seismicity

Seismicity in the intraplate southwest of Western Australia is poorly understood, despite evidence for potentially damaging earthquakes of magnitude>M6. Identifying stress-focusing geological structures near significant earthquake sequences assists in understanding why these earthquakes occur in seemingly random locations across a region of more than 250 000 km2. On 16 September 2018, an ML5.7 earthquake occurred near Lake Muir in the southwest of Western Australia and was followed by an ML5.4 aftershock. The main earthquake formed a mainly northtrending fault scarp ~5 km in length and with a maximum vertical displacement of ~40 cm. The main event was followed by a series of aftershocks, one of which had a magnitude of ML5.4. Using high-resolution aeromagnetic data, we analyse bedrock geology in a wide area surrounding the new scarp and map a series of major east–west-trending faults segmenting eight distinct geological domains, as well as a network of less prominent northwest-trending faults, one of which aligns with the southern segment of the scarp. Surface faulting, surface deformation and earthquake focal mechanism studies suggest movements on north- and northeast-trending structures. The main shock, the aftershocks, surface faulting and changes in InSAR-derived surface elevation all occur in a region bounded to the south by a prominent northwest-trending fault and to the north by a west-northwest-trending domain-bounding structure. Thus, we interpret the north-trending thrust fault associated with the main Lake Muir event as due to local stress concentration of the regional east–west stress field at the intersection of these structures. Further, we propose that a particularly large west-northwest-trending structure may be broadly focusing stress in the Lake Muir area. These findings encourage similar studies to be undertaken in other areas of Australia’s southwest to further the current understanding of seismic release in the region.


<b>Citation: </b>S. Standen, M. Dentith & D. Clark (2021) A geophysical investigation of the 2018 Lake Muir earthquake sequence: reactivated Precambrian structures controlling modern seismicity,<i>Australian Journal of Earth Sciences</i>, 68:5, 717-730, DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2021.1848924

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Identification info

Date (Creation)
2020-11-05
Date (Publication)
2023-11-01T22:23:37
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145489

Identifier

Codespace

Digital Object Identifier

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Author

Standing, J.

External Contact
Author

Dentith, M.

External Contact
Author

Clark, D.

Place and Communities Internal Contact
Publisher

Taylor and Francis Ltd

External Contact
Name

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

Issue identification

Volume 68, Issue 5, 2021

Page

717-730

Purpose

Journal article

Status
Completed
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Resource provider

Place and Communities Division

External Contact
Point of contact

Clark, D.

Place and Communities Internal Contact
Spatial representation type
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

Data Store directory containing the digital product files

Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes

theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
  • EARTH SCIENCES

  • Natural Hazards

Theme
  • Earthquake Hazard

Keywords
  • intraplate

Keywords
  • seismicity

Keywords
  • neotectonics

Keywords
  • stress concentrator

Keywords
  • Lake Muir

Keywords
  • reactivation

Keywords
  • aeromagnetic interpretation

Keywords
  • South West seismic zone

Keywords
  • earthquakes

Keywords
  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License
Other constraints

(c) 2020 Geological Society of Australia

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice facsimile
OnLine resource

Link to Journal

Link to Journal

Distribution format

Resource lineage

Statement

Article submitted to the Australia Journal of Earth Sciences

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security Classification System

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/be4be865-a4c6-4393-99e0-a48d9c46b44e

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Owner

Clark, D

Geoscience Australia Internal Contact
Point of contact

Clark, D.

Place and Communities Internal Contact

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

Journal Articles and Conference Papers

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/145489

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/5167d912-6784-4371-9938-3931e84ca6f1

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/be4be865-a4c6-4393-99e0-a48d9c46b44e

Date info (Creation)
2019-04-08T01:55:29
Date info (Revision)
2019-04-08T01:55:29

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

Earthquake Hazard Lake Muir South West seismic zone aeromagnetic interpretation earthquakes intraplate neotectonics reactivation seismicity stress concentrator
theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
EARTH SCIENCES Natural Hazards

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