Earthquakes in the Canberra Region - Geoscience Australia

Earthquakes in the Canberra RegionFigure 13. Isoseismal map of the magnitude ML 2.5 Gungahlin earthquake of 21 June1999 The red triangle is the epicentre. Reported MM intensity values and isoseismalcontours are shown; intensity values of 0 indicate the earthquake was not felt.I was in bed in that state of relaxed bliss that precedes the onset of sleep, when a loudsomewhat muffled noise caused me to sit bolt upright. The house shook momentarily andthe glass in the windows of my bedroom rattled in its frame. My first thought was that myhouse was a road-rage target or that a ham-fisted burglar was breaking into my house.The possibility of an earthquake also passed through my mind. I looked at my watch: spoton the witching hour; ‘It must be a paranormal phenomenon”, I thought. I got up andchecked the front door of the house and the door to the garage. Nothing amiss wasapparent. ‘Bloody earthquake’, I thought and returned to bed.McEwin, Li and McCue also note that “in Aranda, one person lying in bed readingthought that a large possom was jumping on the deck but resolved that it must have beenan earthquake because possoms aren’t that big. A neighbouring sleeping seismologist wasnot awakened.”At 11.20 am local time on 23 October 2000, a magnitude ML 2.9 earthquake occurrednear Bendoora Dam, about 20 km west of Kambah. It was felt at several localities,including Bonython, Evatt and Theodore.The next Canberra earthquake to be felt, happened at 4.28 pm on 12 June 2003. It had aRichter magnitude of 2.0. The epicentre was in Tuggeranong and it was reported felt inKambah, Gordon, Calwell, Isabella Plains, Monash and Conder. It was heard atDerrington Crescent, Bonython, as a very loud explosion followed by a smaller bang. It isprobable that the epicentre was in or near Bonython. The smaller bang may have been a16