From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1968 Meckering earthquake

The Western Australian town of Meckering was struck by an earthquake on 14 October 1968. The earthquake occurred at 10:58:52 local time, with a moment magnitude of 6.5 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage amounted to $2.2 million with 20–28 injured.

Column 1
Salisbury Homestead one of the buildings destroyed in the earthquake
.mw-parser-output .locmap .od{position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .id{position:absolute;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .locmap .l0{font-size:0;position:absolute}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv{line-height:110%;position:absolute;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr{line-height:110%;position:absolute;top:-0.75em;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pv>div{display:inline;padding:1px}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pl>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:right}.mw-parser-output .locmap .pr>div{display:inline;padding:1px;float:left}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .od,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .od .pv>div,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .od .pl>div,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .od .pr>div{background:#fff!important;color:#000!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .locmap img{filter:grayscale(0.6)}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data .locmap div{background:transparent!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .locmap img{filter:grayscale(0.6)}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .od,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .od .pv>div,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .od .pl>div,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .od .pr>div{background:white!important;color:#000!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data .locmap div{background:transparent!important}}
1968-10-14 02:58:52
815895
ComCat
14 October 1968 (1968-10-14)
10:58:52
6.5 '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000005-QINU`"'Mw
15 km (9 mi)
.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}31°34′S 117°04′E / 31.57°S 117.07°E / -31.57; 117.07
Meckering Fault
Reverse
$2.2 million
MMI IX (Violent)
20–28 injured

The Western Australian town of Meckering was struck by an earthquake on 14 October 1968. The earthquake occurred at 10:58:52 local time, with a moment magnitude of 6.5 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage amounted to $2.2 million with 20–28 injured.

The shallow fault was about 32 kilometres (20 mi) long around the western side of the town of Meckering. It damaged roads including the Great Eastern Highway, the Eastern Goldfields Railway and the Goldfields water pipeline. It formed a fault scarp up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) high with overthrusting to the west of up to 2 metres (7 ft) and strike-slip displacement of up to 0.9 metres (3 ft).

The earthquake affected structures in Perth, the capital of Western Australia 130 km west of Meckering. It occurred in mid-morning of a public holiday, the Queen's Birthday and theatres were packed with children.

The Salisbury Homestead was built by Harry Sermon in 1904 using local stone with a timber and corrigated iron roof. The property would later be owned by the Snooke family. The earthquake destroyed the house, Alice Snooke rescued her 2-year-old daughter from the earthquake. The homestead was abandoned due to the damage and as of 2024 remains as a memorial to the event.

List of earthquakes in 1968
List of earthquakes in Australia
South West seismic zone

Sources

The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1968 Meckering earthquake — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report