By David Southwell For Daily Mail Australia
10:14 11 Jul 2024, updated 11:24 11 Jul 2024
A remote mining town has been rocked by three earthquakes only hours apart.
The Pilbara town of Port Hedland on the northern Western Australian coast, was hit by a 3.1 magnitude earthquake in the early hours of Thursday followed by a 3.8 one at about 11.39am.
A 3.6-magnitude aftershock followed shortly afterwards.
Port Hedland resident Nick Roberts said second earthquake felt as ‘though a truck had run through his building’.
‘It was very short and sharp,’ he said.
No significant damage has been reported after the relatively shallow tremors, which had an epicentre 50km south-east of the town.
Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Dr Hadi Ghasemi told the ABC small earthquakes were not unusual in the region but that it was relatively rare that an aftershock was larger than the initial earthquake.
‘Aftershocks are always a possibility,’ he said.
‘We know that there are a small fraction of earthquakes which are followed by a larger nearby earthquake.
‘It’s not that frequent, but it’s not uncommon.’
Just a month ago, Port Hedland was hit by a similar magnitude earthquake 30 km to the south-east and measuring 3.5 with an epicentre 30km to the south-east.
On June 8 the town’s residents were woken by a loud band followed by several seconds of shaking.
Dr Ghasemi said it was possible the extensive iron ore and lithium mining could be contributing to the geographic instability.
However, he said the region had a history of earthquakes that predated extensive mining.
‘Looking at the background of the region you do expect small earthquakes,’ he said.
The region’s most recent major seismic event was a 6.6 magnitude earthquake which struck off the coast of Broome in 2019.
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