September 19, 2024 • 16 mins
Three earthquakes in 30 days... 30 aftershocks. How well prepared is Muswellbrook and surrounding areas should the unthinkable happen, and we get a really big shaker!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My heart aber hunter, So we could potentially be experiencing
after shocks from this recent earthquake sequence, possibly for a
few weeks or months ahead.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey there, I'm Darren KATRUPI. I was in a Chinese
restaurant in one of the world's most notorious earthquake zone,
San Francisco, about fifteen years ago when I cracked open
a fortune cookie with the following quote experiences what you
get when you don't get what you want. It's fair
to say that applies to those of us living in
Musclebrook and surrounds following the recent earthquake activity. Since Friday,
(00:35):
the twenty third of August, we've been hit with three
sizes of all quakes. On top of that, well over
thirty after shocks have also been felt bias. That reaction
has gone from hoble amusement to a level of reasonable concern. Luckily,
no one's been injured or there's hardly been any serious damage.
But after quake number three you couldn't help but sense
(00:56):
a rise in genuine community concern about how would respond
to a critical emergency event. Marsterlebrookshire Council picked up on
this and this week they arrange public information sessions at
Denman and Musselbrook with the help of the New South
Wales Reconstruction Authority. So I thought I'd go along and
see what I could find out.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
We have New South Wales Health coming in to provide
some information and support. New south Wales Police are here
to discuss arrangements in an emergency, and the New South
Wales Reconstruction Authority are also here and providing that practical
information support in relation to any grants that may be
available and any other practical support. It's really important not
(01:37):
just to provide that emotional support, which is also very important,
but to provide that practical support that people can rely upon.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Derek Finnigan is the GM of Musterbrookshire Council. He says
the council has an important role to play in this space.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
We're really concerned as a council to make sure that
in what has been quite an uncertain time over the
past few weeks, that we provide some certainty of the
community and to ensure the community feel supported and as
informed as we can. And these initiatives that we're providing today,
our intent is for this not to be a soul initiative,
(02:12):
but to be a part of a wider program that
we can provide support of the community in an ongoing way,
because that's what counsels all about, providing that level of
support for the community and the certainty they need.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
What sort of support have you arranged with these workshops?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
We have seismologists here today provide some factual information and
relation to the potential causes of the earthquakes and the ramifications,
but we're also keen to provide some the practical level
of support to the community. So the New South Well's
Reconstruction Authority, which is the state agency tasked with providing
support services and recovery services, has some information in relation
(02:50):
to disaster relief grants, which we specifically ask for because
we know that some members of our community, the business community,
and our residents have suffered infrastructure damage. It's really important
to us to be able to provide some relief to
those who have been affected.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I would imagine a lot of the community, in fact,
the majority wouldn't even know there is financial assistance available
that you can apply for.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
That's a good point, Darren, and I guess part of
our role as well is to make sure the community
is informed of those things, making sure that the information
is available on our website as much as possible our
Facebook page, but making sure that the responsible agencies engage
with the community such as today's events, in a practical
way to provide that support.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's very easy these days just to put a post
up on Facebook or whatever, and for organizations like a
councilor to tick the box and say yeah, we told everyone.
But to actually have people in a room where you
can come and ask a size knowledgeers speak to someone
and say from health and someone from council and even
the police are here about what the emergency arrangements are.
(03:54):
You can sort of you can leave with just so
much more confidence in information which you can't necessarily get
just from seeing a post and reading three sentences on
Facebook in respect.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
To the earthquake events. We're learning as we go, I
think we all are. But in relation of the communication,
it's a very good point that you've made. It's really
about getting out in the community as much as we
can and understanding what form of communication resonates with the community,
which what sorts of forms of communication they can access.
And so we know some areas of our community don't
(04:27):
access Facebook and don't access to the internet, it's about
how do we reach out to those as really valuable
and important members of our community to make sure there's
informed as everyone else.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Despite there being minimal impact on the community from the
recent seismic activity, acting inspected, Todd Hobson says police and
their emergency services colleagues have been very active behind the
scenes with.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
This incident here. We did receive some triple O calls
in relation to probably more shock for anything else because
people hadn't experienced it before. There was some minor structural
damage that we received, but we referred a lot of
that to whether it be the local council for their
engineers to inspect or the sees, and then once we'd
(05:14):
realized that there was no significant damage, we just moved
back to our standard normal operating duties.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Now, I did notice that on each occasion, you guys
put out information via our media release for us to
get out to people which said that there'd been no
serious reports of damage, or there'd been no injuries, etc. Etc.
So police take that lead role or the person in
charge when something happens. Part of their responsibility is to
(05:44):
keep us all up to date with what's happened. And
I suppose that the old Rudy Julia on anything from
nine to eleven is this is what we know, this
is what we don't know, this is what we expect
to happen, and this is what we need you to
do sort of philosophy exactly.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
So soon as something in incident takes place, our number
one priority is to obviously protect life and property, and
then we need to advise people, need to get the
information out what you need to do, where you need
to go, and how we're going to overcome it. And
that's very, very important, and that's why you'll find the
new set plas police will quick to release put that
statement out after the earthquakes here in Musclebrook.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
What is it that police and emergency services want the
community to do when these sort of incidents happen.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
To remain calm and to listen to the advice emergency
services So whether the lead agency, so for a bushfire,
the RFS is a lead agency, for flood, the SEES
is a lead agency, so we look at the information
and the advice of what they put out. It's regular
advising now, especially through social media, for warnings and to
take notice of those warnings and to act upon them
(06:51):
when as soon as that device is reached, don't wait,
just have your plan ready and should be all good.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
One thing that many have picked up on is the
effect the earthquake activity has had on the mental health
of some local residents, especially the more vulnerable members of
our community. The hunt, A, New England local health district,
offers free mental health support via their Rural Advisory Mental
Health Program. Matthew Milne is they're repping our neck of
(07:18):
the woods and says he can be easily contacted.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Just because it wasn't a bushfire or flood doesn't mean
that it doesn't create uncertainty for people. And I think
because there was the main sort of earthquake and then
there was a few follow ups, people are continuing to
ask themselves will there be another one? What impact will
that have? Will it be bigger, will it be smaller?
How long is it going to last? And I think
these things create that sort of cloud over a person's
(07:46):
head and that can start to impact their well being,
just the level of uncertainty of how long do I
have to live with this?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It could often be the case, I imagine that you're
not even aware of having that impact until almost something
triggers it all the thoughts uddink, the light bulb goes off,
and yet yeah.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
And that's a really good point. Often these things build
up in the background and we start to carry them,
and you can just be taken along thinking that everything's
all right, and then something unrelated to the stresses of
the earthquake could be that straw that breaks the camel's back.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
There are support services or help out there. Can you
sort of take us through how to navigate that.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
To be honest, finding help in a rural area can
be tricky. We need to work with what we've got,
and we've got a few services in town here that
are willing and able to take people. We can also
look at options like telehealth and things like that, depending
on what a person wants to engage in. The best
place to start is with the GP, so making an appointment,
checking in, getting a physical check up. Hopefully a GP
(08:48):
does a sort of emotional or mental well being check
up on you as well, and that can really start
the journey. I guess my role within a community is
to help people who are looking for help to navigate
that journey. I can take some of the guesswork or
some of the who do I call what do I say,
what will they think? And the questions that people might
(09:11):
have about mental health. I can really debunk myths and
get a person started on a journey.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Where are you based in? How do we find you?
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Yeah, so I work across all of the Hunter Alley,
So I work between Maitland and Tamworth, mary War, Gloucester, TAI.
You know, I cover a reasonable patch and there's only
one of me, so I do tend to travel a
fair bit. The best place to get me is on
the mobile. That information can be found on our website.
You can just go to r AMHP dot com dot au,
(09:41):
scroll down on the homepage and type your postcode in
and if you're in the Hunter Alley, my number pops
up and you can call me whenever you'd like to
have a chat. That's the best way to get connected
with me. That's really the start.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Of the journey. Next we talk to the experts geoscience.
Australia is the Upper Hunter well prepared for more quakes?
What does the data tell us and what is the
likelihood of our region copying a really big one? I
heart Upper Hunter.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I heart Upper Hunter.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I'm Darren Katrupe and more. Now on the Upper Hunter
and the propensity for the region to copy its fair
share of earthquakes these last few weeks. So the question
that's front of mind in conversations and homes and work
social media is what are the odds that our region
will experience a really big quake at some time down
(10:37):
the track. Trevor Allen is a seismologist at Geoscience Australia.
He says, while there's no definitive answer, we shouldn't be
shocked if there is, but it's more likely the number
will start to decrease and be smaller in size.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
So we know that the Upper Hunter has had earthquakes historically,
so of course many people would be aware and remember
the Newcastle earthquake that remains one of Australia's most costly
and deadly natural disasters. So the Insurance Council of Australia
ranks that earthquake as Australia's third most costly natural disaster.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Still, wow, that was like what thirty odd years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, that's right, So those numbers have been normalized to
twenty twenty two values. But yeah, relative to other natural
disasters black summer, other bushfires, it is still one of
the most damaging earth natural disasters that Australia has experienced.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Does that mean we're living on some big, dirty fault line.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
It's very difficult to say. So we know that the
Australian crust is under constant stress or compression from plate
boundary forces that are driving the Earth's movement.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
All around the world.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So the tectonic boundaries that we see in nature. Over time,
the tectonic stresses will build up and at some point
that stress will become so great it will become stronger
than the rocks can actually withstand and they'll break in
an earthquake. And that break is usually along a zone
of weakness that we know as a fault.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
With recent activity we've been, there's that term predisastered. I
think the example often given is if you've been in
a plane crash, you're not going to be in another one.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Unfortunately, that's something that we can't predict. We know that
when larger earthquakes do occur in Australia, it does actually
mean that there is probably an elevated chance that we
could have similar sized earthquakes, or possibly even a small
likelihood that there could be a larger event. We have
seen that in the past for some earthquakes, but the
(12:48):
stronger likelihood is that we will probably start to see
a decrease in the number of earthquakes occurring, and hopefully
also a decrease in the size.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Of those earthquakes, and as time goes on, that becomes
less and less I imagined.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, so we could potentially be experiencing aftershocks from this
recent earthquake sequence, possibly for a few weeks or months ahead,
but we do expect that level of activity to decrease.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Geoscience Australia are the experts in Australia when it comes
to seismic activity. What can we do here, especially if
we may get some more activity in the coming months,
What can we do to help you guys?
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Well, that's a really good question. So one of the
tools that we have on the Geoscience Australia web page
is a Felt report system. So that is essentially, when
someone feels an earthquake, they can go to our web page,
they can look at the earthquake that they felt, and
then they can click the link I felt this earthquake
and so that'll bring up a questionnaire that leads people
(13:52):
through what they actually experienced during the earthquake. From that
we can get a general idea about the strength of
the shaking that people have experienced, so that information is
really really helpful. It gives an idea about, well, we
know from our instruments where the earthquake was, but sometimes
(14:12):
it's helpful to get an idea from the population as
to well where it was felt, and then emergency services
can then use that information as.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well when the quakes have happened. Of course, you know
the first thing people do is they go to Google
and he goes, oh, it's a four point seven or whatever,
and then so many hours later it's a four point
five or why is there that variation?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Whilst most people think that there is a single magnitude
for an earthquake, there are different scales in which we
use to measure an earthquake. So a lot of people
are probably familiar with the Richter scale. We don't really
use the Richter scale that much, but we use something
similar to that to get a very rapid estimate of
(14:58):
how big the earthquake is, so that will be the
first magnitude that does come out. Then we subsequently do
more analysis and come up with a more robust magnitude
type which we call a moment magnitude. And I won't
go into the technical details of that, but it is
it is better for describing the area of the fault
that actually opts you.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
If you can't predict when the next big earthquake is
going to be, does that mean you can't tell me
what the lotto numbers are that would be correct? So
it seems earthquakes not an exact science. That mean coming
without warning for thousands of years now, and that's not
going to change anytime soon. As my fortune cookie professed
(15:40):
in San Francisco all those years ago, the only source
of knowledge is experience. That's a wrap thanks to the
new South IOWS government's Regional Media Fund. I'm Darren KATRUPI
see you next time.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
iHeart Alper Hunter.
My heart aber hunter, So we could potentially be experiencing
after shocks from this recent earthquake sequence, possibly for a
few weeks or months ahead.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey there, I'm Darren KATRUPI. I was in a Chinese
restaurant in one of the world's most notorious earthquake zone,
San Francisco, about fifteen years ago when I cracked open
a fortune cookie with the following quote experiences what you
get when you don't get what you want. It's fair
to say that applies to those of us living in
Musclebrook and surrounds following the recent earthquake activity. Since Friday,
(00:35):
the twenty third of August, we've been hit with three
sizes of all quakes. On top of that, well over
thirty after shocks have also been felt bias. That reaction
has gone from hoble amusement to a level of reasonable concern. Luckily,
no one's been injured or there's hardly been any serious damage.
But after quake number three you couldn't help but sense
(00:56):
a rise in genuine community concern about how would respond
to a critical emergency event. Marsterlebrookshire Council picked up on
this and this week they arrange public information sessions at
Denman and Musselbrook with the help of the New South
Wales Reconstruction Authority. So I thought I'd go along and
see what I could find out.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
We have New South Wales Health coming in to provide
some information and support. New south Wales Police are here
to discuss arrangements in an emergency, and the New South
Wales Reconstruction Authority are also here and providing that practical
information support in relation to any grants that may be
available and any other practical support. It's really important not
(01:37):
just to provide that emotional support, which is also very important,
but to provide that practical support that people can rely upon.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Derek Finnigan is the GM of Musterbrookshire Council. He says
the council has an important role to play in this space.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
We're really concerned as a council to make sure that
in what has been quite an uncertain time over the
past few weeks, that we provide some certainty of the
community and to ensure the community feel supported and as
informed as we can. And these initiatives that we're providing today,
our intent is for this not to be a soul initiative,
(02:12):
but to be a part of a wider program that
we can provide support of the community in an ongoing way,
because that's what counsels all about, providing that level of
support for the community and the certainty they need.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
What sort of support have you arranged with these workshops?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
We have seismologists here today provide some factual information and
relation to the potential causes of the earthquakes and the ramifications,
but we're also keen to provide some the practical level
of support to the community. So the New South Well's
Reconstruction Authority, which is the state agency tasked with providing
support services and recovery services, has some information in relation
(02:50):
to disaster relief grants, which we specifically ask for because
we know that some members of our community, the business community,
and our residents have suffered infrastructure damage. It's really important
to us to be able to provide some relief to
those who have been affected.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I would imagine a lot of the community, in fact,
the majority wouldn't even know there is financial assistance available
that you can apply for.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
That's a good point, Darren, and I guess part of
our role as well is to make sure the community
is informed of those things, making sure that the information
is available on our website as much as possible our
Facebook page, but making sure that the responsible agencies engage
with the community such as today's events, in a practical
way to provide that support.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's very easy these days just to put a post
up on Facebook or whatever, and for organizations like a
councilor to tick the box and say yeah, we told everyone.
But to actually have people in a room where you
can come and ask a size knowledgeers speak to someone
and say from health and someone from council and even
the police are here about what the emergency arrangements are.
(03:54):
You can sort of you can leave with just so
much more confidence in information which you can't necessarily get
just from seeing a post and reading three sentences on
Facebook in respect.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
To the earthquake events. We're learning as we go, I
think we all are. But in relation of the communication,
it's a very good point that you've made. It's really
about getting out in the community as much as we
can and understanding what form of communication resonates with the community,
which what sorts of forms of communication they can access.
And so we know some areas of our community don't
(04:27):
access Facebook and don't access to the internet, it's about
how do we reach out to those as really valuable
and important members of our community to make sure there's
informed as everyone else.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Despite there being minimal impact on the community from the
recent seismic activity, acting inspected, Todd Hobson says police and
their emergency services colleagues have been very active behind the
scenes with.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
This incident here. We did receive some triple O calls
in relation to probably more shock for anything else because
people hadn't experienced it before. There was some minor structural
damage that we received, but we referred a lot of
that to whether it be the local council for their
engineers to inspect or the sees, and then once we'd
(05:14):
realized that there was no significant damage, we just moved
back to our standard normal operating duties.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Now, I did notice that on each occasion, you guys
put out information via our media release for us to
get out to people which said that there'd been no
serious reports of damage, or there'd been no injuries, etc. Etc.
So police take that lead role or the person in
charge when something happens. Part of their responsibility is to
(05:44):
keep us all up to date with what's happened. And
I suppose that the old Rudy Julia on anything from
nine to eleven is this is what we know, this
is what we don't know, this is what we expect
to happen, and this is what we need you to
do sort of philosophy exactly.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
So soon as something in incident takes place, our number
one priority is to obviously protect life and property, and
then we need to advise people, need to get the
information out what you need to do, where you need
to go, and how we're going to overcome it. And
that's very, very important, and that's why you'll find the
new set plas police will quick to release put that
statement out after the earthquakes here in Musclebrook.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
What is it that police and emergency services want the
community to do when these sort of incidents happen.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
To remain calm and to listen to the advice emergency
services So whether the lead agency, so for a bushfire,
the RFS is a lead agency, for flood, the SEES
is a lead agency, so we look at the information
and the advice of what they put out. It's regular
advising now, especially through social media, for warnings and to
take notice of those warnings and to act upon them
(06:51):
when as soon as that device is reached, don't wait,
just have your plan ready and should be all good.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
One thing that many have picked up on is the
effect the earthquake activity has had on the mental health
of some local residents, especially the more vulnerable members of
our community. The hunt, A, New England local health district,
offers free mental health support via their Rural Advisory Mental
Health Program. Matthew Milne is they're repping our neck of
(07:18):
the woods and says he can be easily contacted.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Just because it wasn't a bushfire or flood doesn't mean
that it doesn't create uncertainty for people. And I think
because there was the main sort of earthquake and then
there was a few follow ups, people are continuing to
ask themselves will there be another one? What impact will
that have? Will it be bigger, will it be smaller?
How long is it going to last? And I think
these things create that sort of cloud over a person's
(07:46):
head and that can start to impact their well being,
just the level of uncertainty of how long do I
have to live with this?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It could often be the case, I imagine that you're
not even aware of having that impact until almost something
triggers it all the thoughts uddink, the light bulb goes off,
and yet yeah.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
And that's a really good point. Often these things build
up in the background and we start to carry them,
and you can just be taken along thinking that everything's
all right, and then something unrelated to the stresses of
the earthquake could be that straw that breaks the camel's back.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
There are support services or help out there. Can you
sort of take us through how to navigate that.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
To be honest, finding help in a rural area can
be tricky. We need to work with what we've got,
and we've got a few services in town here that
are willing and able to take people. We can also
look at options like telehealth and things like that, depending
on what a person wants to engage in. The best
place to start is with the GP, so making an appointment,
checking in, getting a physical check up. Hopefully a GP
(08:48):
does a sort of emotional or mental well being check
up on you as well, and that can really start
the journey. I guess my role within a community is
to help people who are looking for help to navigate
that journey. I can take some of the guesswork or
some of the who do I call what do I say,
what will they think? And the questions that people might
(09:11):
have about mental health. I can really debunk myths and
get a person started on a journey.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Where are you based in? How do we find you?
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Yeah, so I work across all of the Hunter Alley,
So I work between Maitland and Tamworth, mary War, Gloucester, TAI.
You know, I cover a reasonable patch and there's only
one of me, so I do tend to travel a
fair bit. The best place to get me is on
the mobile. That information can be found on our website.
You can just go to r AMHP dot com dot au,
(09:41):
scroll down on the homepage and type your postcode in
and if you're in the Hunter Alley, my number pops
up and you can call me whenever you'd like to
have a chat. That's the best way to get connected
with me. That's really the start.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Of the journey. Next we talk to the experts geoscience.
Australia is the Upper Hunter well prepared for more quakes?
What does the data tell us and what is the
likelihood of our region copying a really big one? I
heart Upper Hunter.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I heart Upper Hunter.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I'm Darren Katrupe and more. Now on the Upper Hunter
and the propensity for the region to copy its fair
share of earthquakes these last few weeks. So the question
that's front of mind in conversations and homes and work
social media is what are the odds that our region
will experience a really big quake at some time down
(10:37):
the track. Trevor Allen is a seismologist at Geoscience Australia.
He says, while there's no definitive answer, we shouldn't be
shocked if there is, but it's more likely the number
will start to decrease and be smaller in size.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
So we know that the Upper Hunter has had earthquakes historically,
so of course many people would be aware and remember
the Newcastle earthquake that remains one of Australia's most costly
and deadly natural disasters. So the Insurance Council of Australia
ranks that earthquake as Australia's third most costly natural disaster.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Still, wow, that was like what thirty odd years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, that's right, So those numbers have been normalized to
twenty twenty two values. But yeah, relative to other natural
disasters black summer, other bushfires, it is still one of
the most damaging earth natural disasters that Australia has experienced.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Does that mean we're living on some big, dirty fault line.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
It's very difficult to say. So we know that the
Australian crust is under constant stress or compression from plate
boundary forces that are driving the Earth's movement.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
All around the world.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So the tectonic boundaries that we see in nature. Over time,
the tectonic stresses will build up and at some point
that stress will become so great it will become stronger
than the rocks can actually withstand and they'll break in
an earthquake. And that break is usually along a zone
of weakness that we know as a fault.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
With recent activity we've been, there's that term predisastered. I
think the example often given is if you've been in
a plane crash, you're not going to be in another one.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Unfortunately, that's something that we can't predict. We know that
when larger earthquakes do occur in Australia, it does actually
mean that there is probably an elevated chance that we
could have similar sized earthquakes, or possibly even a small
likelihood that there could be a larger event. We have
seen that in the past for some earthquakes, but the
(12:48):
stronger likelihood is that we will probably start to see
a decrease in the number of earthquakes occurring, and hopefully
also a decrease in the size.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Of those earthquakes, and as time goes on, that becomes
less and less I imagined.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, so we could potentially be experiencing aftershocks from this
recent earthquake sequence, possibly for a few weeks or months ahead,
but we do expect that level of activity to decrease.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Geoscience Australia are the experts in Australia when it comes
to seismic activity. What can we do here, especially if
we may get some more activity in the coming months,
What can we do to help you guys?
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Well, that's a really good question. So one of the
tools that we have on the Geoscience Australia web page
is a Felt report system. So that is essentially, when
someone feels an earthquake, they can go to our web page,
they can look at the earthquake that they felt, and
then they can click the link I felt this earthquake
and so that'll bring up a questionnaire that leads people
(13:52):
through what they actually experienced during the earthquake. From that
we can get a general idea about the strength of
the shaking that people have experienced, so that information is
really really helpful. It gives an idea about, well, we
know from our instruments where the earthquake was, but sometimes
(14:12):
it's helpful to get an idea from the population as
to well where it was felt, and then emergency services
can then use that information as.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well when the quakes have happened. Of course, you know
the first thing people do is they go to Google
and he goes, oh, it's a four point seven or whatever,
and then so many hours later it's a four point
five or why is there that variation?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Whilst most people think that there is a single magnitude
for an earthquake, there are different scales in which we
use to measure an earthquake. So a lot of people
are probably familiar with the Richter scale. We don't really
use the Richter scale that much, but we use something
similar to that to get a very rapid estimate of
(14:58):
how big the earthquake is, so that will be the
first magnitude that does come out. Then we subsequently do
more analysis and come up with a more robust magnitude
type which we call a moment magnitude. And I won't
go into the technical details of that, but it is
it is better for describing the area of the fault
that actually opts you.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
If you can't predict when the next big earthquake is
going to be, does that mean you can't tell me
what the lotto numbers are that would be correct? So
it seems earthquakes not an exact science. That mean coming
without warning for thousands of years now, and that's not
going to change anytime soon. As my fortune cookie professed
(15:40):
in San Francisco all those years ago, the only source
of knowledge is experience. That's a wrap thanks to the
new South IOWS government's Regional Media Fund. I'm Darren KATRUPI
see you next time.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
iHeart Alper Hunter.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.