Quake shakes WA wheat belt, historic buildings survive
A 4.7 magnitude earthquake has hit the WA Great Southern town of Wagin shortly before 5.30am on Tuesday.
Aftershocks have been felt, including a 3.6 magnitude one near Arthur River and a 2.6 magnitude one near Darkan.
The quake was about eight kilometres deep, says Geoscience Australia, with 518 felt reports.
Wagin is a wheatbelt town about 230km southeast of Perth, known for its giant ram āBartā and annual Woolarama event.
Shire president Phillip Blight told AAP thankfully Bart and the century-old buildings in the town had escaped damage.
āIām just having a look right now at the giant ram in Wagin to make sure he hasnāt suffered any damageā¦heās great,ā Mr Blight said.
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ā(My wife and I) were having breakfast and it built fairly rapidly, it started and built fairly rapidly to a maximum intensity and it just rumbled along.
āIt just wasnāt probably quite strong enough that I could see a plate or a knife or a fork moving on the table sort of thing, it didnāt do that. But yeah, just strong enough to certainly recognise what it was.ā
A 5.9 magnitude quake rocked the Victorian town of Mansfield in September 2021.
In 2018, Lake Muir in WAās southwest was hit by a 5.7 magnitude quake.
In 1968 the town of Meckering had a damaging 6.78 magnitude earthquake.
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