In what is (almost definitely) the most ground-breaking news to hit Sydney in the last 12 hours, a 3.1 magnitude earthquake, and then another light 1.5 magnitude earthquake were recorded hitting Appin in the city’s south-west. Earthquakes and Sydney don’t generally occur together in the same sentence, meaning that most of us in the city are left wondering what exactly happened, and how likely it is for another earthquake to happen again.
So, what did happen with Sydney’s earthquake?
At 2pm on Sunday afternoon, a selection of residents in the Appin region felt the Earth tremble when a 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit 3 kilometres beneath the surface of the ground. This wasn’t a major earthquake by any means, but a few residents in Douglas Park took to social media to say they heard a large bang, while others said they felt their house shake and the ground shudder. No buildings were damaged, and many other people throughout the region also reported that they didn’t feel a thing. Now, as of Monday, June 19, another light earthquake was recorded hitting the same area 4 kilometres below ground in the early hours of the morning – but by the sounds of it, this one was less perceptible.
How likely is it that Sydney will get an earthquake again?
Geoscience Australia has reported that this region of Sydney actually already experiences an average of 48 earthquakes every year, with Appin getting hit by a 3.9 magnitude earthquake back in 2017. Despite Sydney not being on a faultline, we still do experience a number of earthquakes every year – it’s just that the majority of them normally go by undetected by people.
Are earthquakes becoming more common in Australia?
Following the most recent 3.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Melbourne in May, the question has been raised – are we getting more of these? This year, a 4.7 magnitude quake shook South Australia, while in Victoria a 4.8 magnitude earthquake went down in 2022. In 2021, two hefty 5.8 and 4.8 quakes went down in Victoria, while 5.3 magnitude hit Western Australia. The stats show that we are currently getting far stronger quakes than we’re usually used to, but scientists say this is all part of the plan, with these magnitude four and above earthquakes a normal geological pattern that occurs every hundred years.
Basically Sydney – there's no need for any of us to be too shook.