1954 Adelaide earthquake

Earthquake affecting Adelaide, South Australia September 2020 January 2012 1954 Adelaide earthquake 1954-02-28 18:10 n/a n/a 1954 03 01 yes 03:40 am Australia 5.6 w y VIII 4 km 35.030 S 138.557 E inline, title Eden-Burnside Fault Australia No injured The 1954 Adelaide earthquake had its epicentre at Darlington, a suburb of the city of Adelaide in South Australia, some 12 km mi on to the south of the Adelaide city centre. The quake took place at 3:40 am in the early morning of 1 March 1954 and had a reported magnitude of 5.6.http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/Journals/TRSSA/TRSSA_V079/TRSSA_V079_p177p185.pdf The Adelaide Earthquake of 1st March, 1954 C. Kerr-Grant South Australian Museum 10 November 1955 2009-04-04 28 March 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200328171151/http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/Journals/TRSSA/TRSSA_V079/TRSSA_V079_p177p185.pdf dead ;http://www.ema.gov.au/ema/emadisasters.nsf/54273a46a9c753b3ca256d0900180220/affba43fc3009495ca256d3300057c45?OpenDocument Adelaide, SA: Earthquake EMA Disasters Database Emergency Management Australia 13 September 2006 2009-04-05 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080817182000/http://www.ema.gov.au/ema/emadisasters.nsf/54273a46a9c753b3ca256d0900180220/affba43fc3009495ca256d3300057c45?OpenDocument 17 August 2008 An area of more than 700 km2 sustained an intensity greater than V on the Mercalli intensity scale. Geology As Australia lies in the middle of a tectonic plate, South Australia is relatively stable geologically. However, South Australia is the second most earthquake-prone of the Australian states with around 3–4 tremors each day. Most tremors are of a magnitude below 2.5, and so noteworthy only to seismologists. Since they are dispersed fairly evenly across the state, most occur well away from centres of human population. The 1954 Adelaide earthquake differed because of its magnitude, which made it the fourth most intense earthquake reported in the state since settlement in 1836, and because it occurred in an area of dense human settlement. The quake is thought to have started along the Eden-Burnside fault line, which is essentially the Hills face zone, at a depth of 4 km. However, due to a lack of instruments at the time, this is uncertain.Adelaide earthquake: where the faults lie The Advertiser 26 March 2011 Due to the Adelaide plains being primarily heavy clay, amplification of the tremor was reduced, resulting in less damage than a quake of this size would be expected to cause in a metropolitan area. There were no reported fatalities, and 16 reported injuries.Historical earthquakes: a case study for the Adelaide 1954 earthquake Earthquake Engineering in Australia, Canberra 24–26 November 2006 Damage The total cost of the damage was estimated at £17 million (AU: $AU 34 1954 million), but only £3 million (AU: $AU 6 1954 million) was paid out in insurance for 30,303 claims, covering around 22% of the damaged buildings. Adelaide in 1954 was still subject to wartime rationing, and most damaged property was uninsured. The earthquake was the most destructive earthquake in recorded Australian history until 1989, when it was eclipsed by the 5.6 Richter magnitude Newcastle earthquake, which caused $4 billion damage, killed 13 people, and injured 160. One of the settlement's earliest buildings, the Victoria Hotel in Hindley Street, suffered partial collapse. Other major buildings severely damaged included the local Catholic cathedral, St Francis Xavier Cathedral, the General Post Office clock tower, and a newly completed hospital in Blackwood which sustained major damage in all its wards and offices (though an operating theatre survived). The Wakefield Street Private Hospital was damaged to the tune of £600, which was not covered by insurance.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130986323 Quake damage at hospital News 63 9,701 South Australia 14 September 1954 20 May 2021 25 National Library of Australia The Britannia statue in Pirie Street was badly damaged, and since it had also been similarly damaged in the 1897 Beachport and 1902 Warooka earthquakes, the clock in the statue was permanently removed. Outside of Adelaide there was little damage. The Troubridge Island Lighthouse off the south east corner of Yorke Peninsula, 83 km west of Adelaide across the Gulf St Vincent, shut down after the quake damaged its generator, while the Cape St Albans Lighthouse on Kangaroo Island began flashing irregularly.The Advertiser, p. 1, 2 March 1954 See also List of earthquakes in 1954 List of earthquakes in Australia References External links Recollections of the 1954 Adelaide Earthquake Great Adelaide Earthquake, 1954 Category:March 1954 in Australia Category:1950s in Adelaide Category:Earthquakes in Australia Category:Disasters in South Australia Category:1954 disasters in Australia