The effects in Western Australia of a major earthquake in Indonesia on 19 August 1977
Dataset Identification:
Resource Abstract:
The Indonesian earthquake of 19 August 1977, with a magnitude (M), 8 was felt in Western Australia up to distances of 2600
km. The maximum ground intensity felt was MM V in northwest towns up to 1100 km from the epicentre. The ground intensity in
Perth, 2300 km from the epic entre, was MM III or less. Resonance of multi-storey buildings resulted in an eight-fold amplification
of peak ground acceleration on the upper floors. Only minor damage occurred in Perth. Seismic sea waves up to six metres in
height were reported several hours after the earthquake at towns along the northwest coast. There were no reports of damage
associated with these waves. They arrived along the coast near low tide, otherwise there could have been some flooding. An
examination of data from the Sunda arc region, for the period 1900-1977, suggests that about eight earthquakes of magnitude
greater than 7.5 could occur in this region every hundred years. Of these, two or three may be felt in Western Australia.
The 1977 earthquake was the largest and closest to Western Australia since 1900 and its effects are the maximum likely to
be experienced from this region. Consideration should be given to installing accelerographs in selected buildings in Perth.
Citation
Title The effects in Western Australia of a major earthquake in Indonesia on 19 August 1977
publication Date
1979-01-01T00:00:00
Series
Name BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics
Issue 4:2:135-140
cited responsible party
-
publisher
organisation Name
Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics
Metadata standard for this record:
ANZLIC Metadata Profile: An Australian/New Zealand Profile of AS/NZS ISO 19115:2005, Geographic information - Metadata
standard version:
1.1
Metadata record identifier:
fae9173a-6fbf-71e4-e044-00144fdd4fa6
Metadata record format is ISO19139-2 XML (MI_Metadata)