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The Appin (New South Wales) earthquake of 15 November 1981

Created 16/10/2025

Updated 16/10/2025

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The earthquake that occurred near Appin, New South Wales, on 15 November 1981 and its aftershock of 19 November were both associated with thrust faulting in the middle crust (10-20 km), caused by east-west compressive forces. The magnitudes of the main earthquake were estimated to be 3.9 Ms, 4.3 mb, 4.6 ML and 4.1 Mw, and a seismic moment of about 1.4 x 10^1 5 N-m was estimated. Although no damage was reported, the main earthquake was felt over about 60 000 km^2 of New South Wales, with a maximum felt intensity of 5 on the Modified Mercalli Scale experienced near the epicentral region and along the coastal plain from Wollongong to Nowra. The radius of the MMIV isoseismal was about 200 km.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title The Appin (New South Wales) earthquake of 15 November 1981
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/5a84e15e-021b-413f-8c8c-ffb6fa92c6a4
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        149.5,
        -36.0
      ],
      [
        151.5,
        -36.0
      ],
      [
        151.5,
        -33.5
      ],
      [
        149.5,
        -33.5
      ],
      [
        149.5,
        -36.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "The Appin (New South Wales) earthquake of 15 November 1981". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/the-appin-new-south-wales-earthquake-of-15-november-1981