Two Earthquakes In Australia
Earthquakes in Australia
Australia is a very lucky country that suffers very few earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Earthquakes are caused by converging plates (usually subducting), and there a 4 different types of waves in two categories; firstly there is Body waves which are broken into primary and secondary waves (these travel through the earth) Surface waves travel through only the crust and are called Love and Rayleigh. These Waves (the earthquakes) are measured by a seismograph/ a device that monitors the Earth’s vibrations. There are hardly any earthquakes in Australia and only even a minority of them have caused major damage. Within this century there has only been 1 or 2 earthquakes which caused a great amount of damage and deaths …show more content…
such as the 1989 Newcastle quake; although it measured 5.5 on the Richter scale, building collapsed due to the focus being so close to the city, where as the strongest earthquake in Australia which was 7.2 caused next to none damage because the focus was far away from any major cities or towns. Is Australia really going to have a major destructive earthquake within the new century or will it stay a peaceful and calm continent.
FOR
It is fair enough to say that Australia is not the most earthquake ridden country and there has yet to be one that has had a huge affect on the whole of Australia, but that doesn 't close the possibility to have a large and powerful earthquake occur within the next 100 years.
As shown in this map Australia encounters many earthquakes (most under magnitude5) and the majority of them occur around the South-eastern coast. Other quakes occur in the ocean which explains why the waves from South Australia to Western Australia can be so good at certain times of the year. The way the earth is evolving today may lead to big changes within 100 years and who knows till then Australia could be in the middle of a tectonic plate boundary and there may be many destructive earthquakes within 100 …show more content…
years.
AGAINST
There is much evidence to why Australia will not have a major earthquake within the next 100 years; simply starting out there has never been an extremely large and powerful earthquake in Australia before.
It is in the middle of the Indo-Australian plate which makes it difficult for a quake to be created. As you can see from earthquakes in Australia over a 4-5 year period we became more conscience of saving lives of our citizens. in 2010-11 that was when one more earthquake or tremor occurred which shook the nation and as a result disaster response rose. When you compare disaster response to the other categories on the chart we realise the earthquakes are very un common and that if they do strike it is usually with very little force. Earthquakes can happen anywhere but mostly occur on plate boundaries that are converging and subducting tectonic plates. It would be an outburst to say that no dangerous earthquakes occur in Australia, or none at all as recently stated by the one in Newcastle.
By looking at statistics and evidence it is shown that the world will evolve and change, it is in constant movement. Australia may end up in the ring of fire (one of the most dangerous areas of volcanic and ground activity). It is too hard to tell if Australia will encounter a major geological event such as a large earthquake, but anything is possible. Cities will expand into wider Australia and maybe those earthquakes that are powerful but don 't affect much will have a large impact on
the communities near.
In conclusion, Earthquakes are always happening in Australia, fortunately they are not major earthquakes that cause substantial damage only small tremors. Unfortunately we are unable to predict if an earthquake of large size and power will strike Australia within the next 100 years. What we do know though is that we can help prevent more damage by designing buildings with buffering devices. As recently stated the continents can move and are progressing in a cycle over millions of year, moving due to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Who 's not to say that something on that grand a scale will happen ever again, maybe 100 years or 100 million years, maybe that all these little quakes are leading to the grandest one in Australian history.
Bibliography
List of earthquakes in Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. List of earthquakes in Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. at:http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Australia. (Accessed 27 August 2013).
I have to find the likelyhood of a major earthquake hitting australia? - Yahoo! Answers. 2013. I have to find the likelyhood of a major earthquake hitting australia? - Yahoo! Answers. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080509223016AA9IoTh. (Accessed 27 August 2013).
Applying geoscience to Australia 's most important challenges - Geoscience Australia. 2013. Applying geoscience to Australia 's most important challenges - Geoscience Australia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ga.gov.au/. (Accessed 27 August 2013).
Australia is a very lucky country that suffers very few earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Earthquakes are caused by converging plates (usually subducting), and there a 4 different types of waves in two categories; firstly there is Body waves which are broken into primary and secondary waves (these travel through the earth) Surface waves travel through only the crust and are called Love and Rayleigh. These Waves (the earthquakes) are measured by a seismograph/ a device that monitors the Earth’s vibrations. There are hardly any earthquakes in Australia and only even a minority of them have caused major damage. Within this century there has only been 1 or 2 earthquakes which caused a great amount of damage and deaths …show more content…
such as the 1989 Newcastle quake; although it measured 5.5 on the Richter scale, building collapsed due to the focus being so close to the city, where as the strongest earthquake in Australia which was 7.2 caused next to none damage because the focus was far away from any major cities or towns. Is Australia really going to have a major destructive earthquake within the new century or will it stay a peaceful and calm continent.
FOR
It is fair enough to say that Australia is not the most earthquake ridden country and there has yet to be one that has had a huge affect on the whole of Australia, but that doesn 't close the possibility to have a large and powerful earthquake occur within the next 100 years.
As shown in this map Australia encounters many earthquakes (most under magnitude5) and the majority of them occur around the South-eastern coast. Other quakes occur in the ocean which explains why the waves from South Australia to Western Australia can be so good at certain times of the year. The way the earth is evolving today may lead to big changes within 100 years and who knows till then Australia could be in the middle of a tectonic plate boundary and there may be many destructive earthquakes within 100 …show more content…
years.
AGAINST
There is much evidence to why Australia will not have a major earthquake within the next 100 years; simply starting out there has never been an extremely large and powerful earthquake in Australia before.
It is in the middle of the Indo-Australian plate which makes it difficult for a quake to be created. As you can see from earthquakes in Australia over a 4-5 year period we became more conscience of saving lives of our citizens. in 2010-11 that was when one more earthquake or tremor occurred which shook the nation and as a result disaster response rose. When you compare disaster response to the other categories on the chart we realise the earthquakes are very un common and that if they do strike it is usually with very little force. Earthquakes can happen anywhere but mostly occur on plate boundaries that are converging and subducting tectonic plates. It would be an outburst to say that no dangerous earthquakes occur in Australia, or none at all as recently stated by the one in Newcastle.
By looking at statistics and evidence it is shown that the world will evolve and change, it is in constant movement. Australia may end up in the ring of fire (one of the most dangerous areas of volcanic and ground activity). It is too hard to tell if Australia will encounter a major geological event such as a large earthquake, but anything is possible. Cities will expand into wider Australia and maybe those earthquakes that are powerful but don 't affect much will have a large impact on
the communities near.
In conclusion, Earthquakes are always happening in Australia, fortunately they are not major earthquakes that cause substantial damage only small tremors. Unfortunately we are unable to predict if an earthquake of large size and power will strike Australia within the next 100 years. What we do know though is that we can help prevent more damage by designing buildings with buffering devices. As recently stated the continents can move and are progressing in a cycle over millions of year, moving due to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Who 's not to say that something on that grand a scale will happen ever again, maybe 100 years or 100 million years, maybe that all these little quakes are leading to the grandest one in Australian history.
Bibliography
List of earthquakes in Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. List of earthquakes in Australia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. at:http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Australia. (Accessed 27 August 2013).
I have to find the likelyhood of a major earthquake hitting australia? - Yahoo! Answers. 2013. I have to find the likelyhood of a major earthquake hitting australia? - Yahoo! Answers. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080509223016AA9IoTh. (Accessed 27 August 2013).
Applying geoscience to Australia 's most important challenges - Geoscience Australia. 2013. Applying geoscience to Australia 's most important challenges - Geoscience Australia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ga.gov.au/. (Accessed 27 August 2013).