East Canning Basin earthquake, March 1970

Abstract

On 24 March 1970 an earthquake of magnitude ML 6.7 took place in the eastern Canning Basin. The earthquake was unusual because it occurred in a region where no previous earthquake had been reported and where there was no evidence of recent tectonic activity. First motion results indicate a thrusting type focal mechanism with the pressure axis approximately northeast‐southwest and dipping about 24° to the southwest. The main shock was followed, over the next two years, by many earthquakes in a zone covering 140 km by 20 km. The longitudinal axis of this zone is approximately parallel to the north‐northwest striking nodal plane determined from the first motion results, and to the trend of intrabasin faulting. It is suggested that continental crust may be sensitive to small changes in stress pattern and consequently seismic activity may be interrelated over large distances.