The 2010 Kalgoorlie-Boulder earthquake was a 5.2

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

that occurred near the city of

Kalgoorlie-Boulder Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area include ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

on 20 April 2010, at approximately 8:17 am WST. The earthquake caused major damage to the historic buildings in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Its

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

was approximately

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

of Kalgoorlie, at a depth of . The duration of shaking lasted about 10–15 seconds and was felt up to away. It was also the largest recorded in the

Goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

region in terms of magnitude and one of the largest in Australia in terms of resulting damage. No one was killed but two people were treated at Kalgoorlie Hospital for minor injuries resulting from the earthquake. It resulted in the temporary closure of local

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: * Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album ''ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characteri ...

s including the

Super Pit gold mine The Fimiston Open Pit, colloquially known as the Super Pit, was Australia's largest open cut gold mine until 2016 when it was surpassed by the Newmont Boddington gold mine also in Western Australia. The Super Pit is located off the Goldfields ...

.Australia's Super Pit gold mine reopens after quake
/ref>

References

External links

Australian Goldfields rocked by largest earthquake in 50 years
–

Times Online ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

Biggest quake in 50 years hits Australia's Goldfields
– Agence France-Presse
Moderate earthquake rattles Western Australia Goldfields
– Herald Sun Australia Kalgoorlie-Boulder earthquake April 2010 events in Australia Earthquakes in Western Australia Goldfields-Esperance 2010s in Western Australia {{Earthquake-stub

See also

References

External links