This is a list of significant earthquakes recorded in Australia and its territories. The currency used is the Australian dollar (A$) unless noted otherwise.
| State(S) | Location | Date | Type | Deaths | Injuries | Total damage / notes | Source | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Offshore Cape Schanck | 1855-09-17 | UK | Minor damage in Melbourne and surroundings. | [1] [2] | ||||||||
| New South Wales | 11km south of Bullaburra | 2024-03-08 8:53pm | 3.5 | MLa | 0 | 0 | Almost 5900 felt reports from Newcastle, out to Bathurst and as far South as Albion Park. The majority was felt in the Sydney basin and the Blue Mountains. | [3] [4] | |||||
| Queensland | Gayndah | 1883-08-28 | 5.9 | Caused major damage in the Gayndah region. | [5] | ||||||||
| Victoria | Cape Liptrap | 1885-07-02 | 5.7 | Felt throughout Victoria, including Melbourne and Geelong. Minor damage around epicentre. | |||||||||
| New South Wales/ACT | Yass | 1886-11-15 | 5.5 | Damage caused in Yass, felt strongly in Queanbeyan. | [6] | ||||||||
| South Australia | Beachport – Robe | 1897-05-10 | 6.5 | UK | IX | 50 | |||||||
| South Australia | Warooka | 1902-09-19 | 6.0 | 2 | Significant damage to the township of Warooka. 2 deaths caused by heart attacks from the shock. | [7] | |||||||
| Victoria | Warrnambool | 1903-07-14 | 5.3 | Damage in Warrnambool | |||||||||
| Victoria | Alpine National Park | 1904-04-10 | 5.0 | Felt throughout North East Victoria and Southern New South Wales, but not in Melbourne. | |||||||||
| New South Wales | Newcastle | 1906-05-16 | UK | Damage in the suburb of The Hill. Ruptured water mains. Caused some cliff erosion | [8] [9] | ||||||||
| New South Wales | Taree – Newcastle | 1916-06-11 | UK | Damage to the Seal Rocks lighthouse. Caused alarm along the Mid-North Coast. | [10] | ||||||||
| Queensland | Bundaberg – Rockhampton | 1918-06-07 | 6.0 | Offshore. Caused "serious damage" to Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Gladstone. | [11] | ||||||||
| Victoria | Offshore Ocean Grove | 1922-04-10 | 5.7 | Chimney collapse in Glen Iris. Objects thrown from shelves in Cranbourne, Malvern East, Pakenham and Portarlington. Felt as far north as Ivanhoe, as far west as Warrnambool and as far south as Burnie, Tasmania. A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck a few kilometres east of this earthquake back on the morning of 1 March 1922, which was felt throughout Melbourne, knocking picture frames off a wall in Cowes. | |||||||||
| New South Wales | Newcastle | 1925-12-18 | 5.3 | Damage and panic in Hunter Street (particularly at the Theatre Royal). | [12] | ||||||||
| Tasmania | North East Tasmania | 1929-12-29 | 5.6 | Significant damage in Launceston, Tasmania; felt across Western Tasmania from Burnie to Hobart. | [13] [14] | ||||||||
| Victoria | Mornington | 1932-09-03 | 4.5 | Felt widely in Melbourne, Geelong, Mornington Peninsula, Westernport Bay and Gippsland. Minor damage. Largest earthquake along the infamous Selwyn Fault since the 5.5 magnitude quake of 1855, which occurred a few kilometres offshore of Cape Schanck. | |||||||||
| New South Wales | Gunning | 1934-11-15 | 5.6 | Damaged a majority of the buildings in Gunning. Felt strongly in Canberra. | |||||||||
| Queensland | Gayndah | 1935-04-12 | 5.4 | Caused considerable damage to the town of Gayndah. One fatality.[15] | [16] | ||||||||
| Western Australia | Meeberrie | 1941-04-29 | 6.3 | Severe shaking, burst water tanks and cracked ground at Meeberrie homestead. Minor damage reported in Perth, 500km (300miles) away. Formerly rated strongest onshore earthquake recorded in Australia (7.2), it has since been rated at 6.3.[17] | [18] | ||||||||
| Victoria / Tasmania | Bass Strait | 1946-09-15 | 6.2 | Minor damage reported in Tasmania from Burnie to Huonville, and in Gippsland, Victoria. Offshore earthquake | [19] [20] [21] | ||||||||
| New South Wales | Dalton and Gunning | 1949-03-10 | 5.5 | Significant damage in Dalton and Gunning; minor cracks in some buildings in Canberra. Felt from Sydney in the north to Narooma and Cooma in the south. | [22] | ||||||||
| South Australia | Adelaide | 1954-03-01 | 5.5 | VIII | Damage totaling $90 million. Widespread minor damage. Considerable damage to many buildings. | [23] | |||||||
| Western Australia | Gabalong | 1955-08-30 | 5.8 | Felt in Perth. Epicentre near Gabalong, about 30 km east of Moora and 200 km NNE of Perth | [24] [25] | ||||||||
| Victoria | Cape Otway | 1960-12-25 | 5.3 | No major damage reported. | |||||||||
| New South Wales | Robertson and Bowral | 1961-05-21 | 5.5 | ML | $3.4 million | ||||||||
| Victoria | Mount Hotham | 1966-05-04 | 5.5 | Broken Windows at Mountt Hotham Ski Village. Felt across North-eastern Victoria, Gippsland and South-eastern New South Wales. Not felt in Melbourne. | |||||||||
| Western Australia | Meckering | 1968-10-14 | 6.5 | Mw | IX | 20–28 | $2.2 million | ||||||
| Victoria | Boolarra | 1969-06-20 | 5.3 | 5.0 aftershock two days later. Cracked walls and stacked chimneys in and around epicentral area. Felt in central and eastern Victoria including Geelong, Benalla and Orbost and on Flinders Island. | [26] | ||||||||
| Western Australia | Canning Basin | 1970-03-24 | 6.7 | Little damage due to the remoteness of the area. Part of a sequence of c. 25 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater in the Canning Basin area of northern Western Australia between 1970 and 1982. | [27] | ||||||||
| Victoria | Western Port | 1971-07-07 | 5.0 | Minor damage in Cowes, Flinders and Shoreham. Felt throughout Melbourne, Western Port Bay and Gippsland. | |||||||||
| Western Australia | Canning Basin | 1971-07-16 | 6.4 | Part of a sequence of c. 25 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater in the Canning Basin area of northern Western Australia between 1970 and 1982 | |||||||||
| New South Wales | Picton | 1973-03-09 | 5.6 | [28] | |||||||||
| Western Australia | Canning Basin | 1975-10-03 | 6.2 | Part of a sequence of c. 25 quakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater in the Canning Basin area of northern Western Australia between 1970 and 1982 | |||||||||
| Victoria | Balliang | 1977-12-02 | 4.7 | 1 | Felt strongly in Geelong and across the suburbs of Melbourne, caused minor damage in the Anakie area. | [29] | |||||||
| Western Australia | Cadoux | 1979-06-02 | 6.1 | 25 buildings in Cadoux were damaged. Damage cost $3.8 million. Perth, 180km (110miles) away experienced some swaying of tall buildings but no damage was reported. This was one of the largest onshore earthquakes recorded in Australia. | [30] | ||||||||
| Victoria | Wonnangatta | 1982-11-21 | 5.4 | The epicentre was in the remote Wonnangatta Valley, along the Wonnangatta Fault; it was mostly felt widely in Eastern Victoria and South Eastern New South Wales and throughout Melbourne and its South Eastern suburbs but not in Geelong. | [31] | ||||||||
| Northern Territory | Marryat Creek | 1986-10-30 | 5.9 | Damage was minor, cracked walls observed in DeRose Hill and Victory Downs stations. Felt in Alice Springs 300km (200miles) to the north, and Coober Pedy 350km (220miles) to the south. | [32] | ||||||||
| Northern Territory | Tennant Creek | 1988-01-22 | 6.7, 6.4, 6.3 | Two buildings and 3 other structures damaged, damage caused to natural gas pipeline. Total damage $2.5 million. Three earthquakes of between 6.3 and 6.7 on the Richter scale. Remarkably caused little damage, despite the intensity of the quake. Felt in high-rise buildings as far away as Perth and Adelaide | [33] [34] | ||||||||
| Northern Territory | Ayers Rock | 1989-05-28 | 5.7 | Minor damage was reported at Yulara resort | [35] | ||||||||
| New South Wales | Newcastle | 1989-12-28 | 5.6 | ML | VIII | 13 | 160 | $4 billion in damage | |||||
| New South Wales | Ellalong | 1994-08-06 | 5.4 | 2 | 1,000 homes and 50 other buildings damaged. Total damage $36 million. | [36] | |||||||
| Victoria | Mount Baw Baw | 1996-09-25 | 5.0 | Thomson Dam region. No major damage | [37] | ||||||||
| South Australia | Burra | 1997-03-05 | 5.0 | No major damage. Felt over a wide area. | |||||||||
| Western Australia | Collier Bay | 1997-08-10 | 6.3 | Mw | No major damage. Felt from Broome to Halls Creek and Kununurra. Strongest earthquake recorded in Australia since the 1988 Tennant Creek earthquake. | ||||||||
| New South Wales | Appin | 1999-03-17 | 4.8 | 65km (40miles) southwest of Sydney. Depth only 3.2 km. Felt in Sydney and caused 1000 homes to lose power. | [38] | ||||||||
| Victoria | Boolarra | 2000-08-29 | 5.0 | Caused minor damage. Felt strongly throughout Gippsland and South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. | |||||||||
| Victoria | Swan Hill | 2001-10-27 | 4.8 | Felt in Swan Hill near VIC–NSW border, Minor damage including fallen chimneys and fallen shelve items. Power disruptions. | |||||||||
| Tasmania | Macquarie Island | 2004-12-24 | 8.1 | Felt in Tasmania | |||||||||
| Western Australia | Kalgoorlie | 2010-04-20 | 5.2 | Mw | V | 2 | Buildings damaged | ||||||
| Queensland | Bowen-Townsville | 2016-08-18 | 5.8 | North Queensland was rocked by 5.8 magnitude earthquake, 124 km southeast of Townsville. The quake struck at 3.31pm, about 130 km south of Townsville, 60 km west of Bowen and 10 km below the earth's surface. | |||||||||
| Victoria | Gippsland | 2012-06-19 | 5.4 | ML | V | Minor | [39] | ||||||
| Queensland | Coral Sea | 2015-07-30 | 5.5 | Mw | V | Slight building damage | [40] | ||||||
| Northern Territory | MacDonnell Region | 2016-05-20 | 6.0 | VIII | [41] | ||||||||
| Victoria/New South Wales/Tasmania/South Australia | Mansfield | 2021-09-22 | 5.9 | Mw | VII | 1 | Building and other damage in Melbourne and Eastern Victoria. The main earthquake was followed by aftershocks — a magnitude 3.5 quake at 9:24am, a 4.1 quake at 9:33am, a 2.5 quake at 9:47am and a 3.1 quake at 9:54am. | [42] [43] | |||||
| Victoria/South Australia/New South Wales | Murrayville | 2021-10-08 | 4.9 | V | Felt in Murrayville. | [44] | |||||||
| Western Australia | Marble Bar | 2021-11-13 | 5.3 | VI | Moderate shaking felt around the epicentre and nearby areas. Reports of houses abruptly shaking after an initial vibrating noise. | [45] | |||||||
| Western Australia | Arthur River | 2022-01-25 | 4.7/4.8 | V | Minor damage to buildings in nearby Wagin. Reports of moderate shaking felt around the epicentre and nearby areas. | [46] [47] | |||||||
| Victoria | Sunbury | 2023-05-28 | 4.0 | ML | VI | Moderate shaking felt around the epicentre and nearby areas. Houses were abruptly shaking, residents awoke after an initial vibrating noise. The main earthquake was followed by one aftershock of magnitude 2.6 at 11:43 pm | [48] | ||||||
| Victoria | Apollo Bay | 2023-10-22 | 5.0 | ML | VI | Moderate shaking felt around the epicentre and as far as Melbourne. Some buildings in nearby areas and Geelong suffered damage. An aftershock of magnitude 3.5 occurred at 5:44 am. | [49] [50] [51] | ||||||
| The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described are also applicable to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded. Mw = moment magnitude scale | UK = Unknown | ||||||||||||
Sources