Seismologist says series of earthquakes no cause for concern to Territorians

A seismologist has weighed in on the cause of three recent earthquakes across the Territory, and reveals what could be behind the shakes, rattles and rumbles.

Territorians’ earthquake concerns have been piqued after quakes of varying magnitudes recently rumbled across Central Australia.

Geoscience Australia seismologist Hugh Glanville said the three earthquakes in July put the NT “bang on average”.

Mr Glanville said the Territory recorded 31 earthquakes in 2022 at an average of 2.6 a month.

“For the last 10 years, 328 earthquakes were located in the Northern Territory so that’s about 33 a year,” he said.

“It seems to be relatively standard.”

Geoscience Australia seismologist Hugh Glanville said Territorians did not need to be concerned by a series of minor earthquakes. Picture: Geoscience Australia

Mr Glanville said Australia was on the “fastest moving continental plate” and shared a collision zone with Papua New Guinea.

The NT’s proximity to that collision zone means it records a high number of the resulting tremors.

“That stress builds up over time and gets released through these earthquakes,” he said.

“It’s not unlike dropping your phone – you’ll get lots of cracks on the glass at the edge of the screen but some cracks will go into the screen.”

It comes after the most recent earthquake rumbled across Central Australia on Sunday.

The magnitude 2.6 tremor shook the Territory 30km southwest of Tennant Creek at 1.47am, reaching a depth of 4km.

A magnitude 2.4 tremor rippled across the Tanami on July 10 and a magnitude 3.0 quake rocked the edge of the NT in Poeppel Corner on July 4.

Mr Glanville said he didn’t expect damage to come from earthquakes of those magnitudes.

“They can be felt locally – minor shaking and some people may hear the earthquakes,” he said.

“You often hear a bang or a rumble, like a truck or a train passing you if you’re nearby.”