Quake with magnitude of 5.9 detected in nation’s desert centre early on Saturday

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9, unusually powerful for Australia, struck the country’s desert centre early on Saturday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the 10km (6 miles) deep quake.

It was centred 460km west-southwest of the outback town of Alice Springs and close to Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock.

The quake, which hit just before 4am local time in the sparsely populated area of the Northern Territory, was initially recorded at a magnitude of 6.2 before being revised down by USGS.

Geoscience Australia said it could have been felt as far as 500km from its epicentre, although any damage would be limited to a 40km radius.

“It occurred in the middle of the desert and as far as we can tell it was far from any community and there have been no reports of injuries or damage,” Northern Territory police duty superintendent Angela Stringer told Reuters.



“From a geological perspective, it’s pretty spectacular but we don’t see it as anything more than that at this time.”

The desert area southwest of Alice Springs is sparsely populated. The nearest indigenous community settlements were well over 100km away from the quake’s epicentre.

The last major tremor recorded in Australia was in 2012 when a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck in the far north of South Australia state. That quake was the largest recorded in the country in 15 years.