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The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to the south of Pemberton. The adjacent Darling Plateau goes easterly to include Mount Bakewell near York and Mount Saddleback near Boddington. It was named after the Governor of New South Wales, Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling.
The North American plate is a tectonic plate containing most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of 76 million km2 (29 million sq mi), it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific plate.
Mundaring is a suburb located 34 km east of Perth, Western Australia on the Great Eastern Highway. The suburb is located within the Shire of Mundaring.
The New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ), sometimes called the New Madrid fault line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes in the Southern and Midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri.
The Australian plate is a major tectonic plate in the eastern and, largely, southern hemispheres. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, Australia remained connected to India and Antarctica until approximately 100 million years ago when India broke away and began moving north. Australia and Antarctica had begun rifting by 96 million years ago and completely separated a while after this, some believing as recently as 45 million years ago, but most accepting presently that this had occurred by 60 million years ago.
The Perth Observatory is the name of two astronomical observatories located in Western Australia (WA). In 1896, the original observatory was founded in West Perth on Mount Eliza overlooking the city of Perth. Due to the city's expansion, the observatory moved to Bickley in 1965. The new Perth Observatory is sometimes referred to as Bickley Observatory.
Calingiri is a town located north-east of Perth, near New Norcia in Western Australia. It is in the Shire of Victoria Plains.
Cadoux is a town in the northeastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. It is about 180 kilometres (112 mi) northeast of Perth, within the Shire of Wongan-Ballidu.
Meckering is a town 130 kilometres (80.8 mi) east of Perth, Western Australia along the Great Eastern Highway. Meckering is located within the Shire of Cunderdin.
Lake Muir is a freshwater lake, with a larger surrounding wetlands area, that is located in the South West region of Western Australia. The lake lies near Muirs Highway, north of Walpole and southeast of Manjimup.
The Yilgarn Craton is a large craton that constitutes a major part of the Western Australian land mass. It is bounded by a mixture of sedimentary basins and Proterozoic fold and thrust belts. Zircon grains in the Jack Hills, Narryer Terrane have been dated at ~4.27 Ga, with one detrital zircon dated as old as 4.4 Ga.
The geology of Australia includes virtually all known rock types, spanning a geological time period of over 3.8 billion years, including some of the oldest rocks on earth. Australia is a continent situated on the Indo-Australian Plate.
The Perth Basin is a thick, elongated sedimentary basin in Western Australia. It lies beneath the Swan Coastal Plain west of the Darling Scarp, representing the western limit of the much older Yilgarn Craton, and extends further west offshore. Cities and towns including Perth, Busselton, Bunbury, Mandurah and Geraldton are built over the Perth Basin.
The Australian Shield is a geological feature known as a shield that occupies more than half of the continent of Australia. The word shield is used because it refers to ancient, molten rock which has cooled and solidified.
Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state or territory in Australia, at 10,194 km or 12,889 km. It is a significant portion of the coastline of Australia, which is 35,877 km.
The South Bismarck plate is a small tectonic plate located mainly in the southern Bismarck Sea. The eastern part of New Guinea and the island of New Britain are on this plate. It is associated with high earthquake and volcanic activity as part of the New Britain subduction zone within the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Earthquakes have occurred in Western Australia (WA) on a regular basis throughout its geological history.
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.
On 22 January 1988, a sequence of destructive earthquakes measuring 6.2, 6.3, and 6.6 struck southwest of Tennant Creek, Australia which was felt as far north as Darwin and in other regions of the country. The largest event of the sequence was the largest earthquake ever recorded in mainland Australia since records began in 1800. An intensity of IX (Violent) was observed. Despite the large magnitude of the earthquakes and a close proximity to a town, in a country where earthquakes of this size are not common, damages were limited. Thousands of aftershocks were reported and felt across Northern Territory.
References
- Featherstone, Will (1998) Geodetic monitoring of the South West Seismic Zone paper at Curtin University of Technology 24 25 September 1998 to the Advances in Deformation Monitoring International Workshop