The South West seismic zone (also identified as SWSZ) is a major intraplate earthquake province located in the south west of Western Australia.First named by H.A.Doyle (1971) Seismicity and Structure in Australia Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin Vol.9 pp. 149–152
It was known earlier as the Yandanooka–Cape Riche Lineament, including the physiographic boundary known as the Meckering Line, and also the junction between Swanland and Salinaland. – section Southwestern Province by I.R. Williams page 65 The zone exists within an Archaean Shield structure called the Yilgarn Block. – section Yilgarn Block by I.R. Williams pages 33–81 – now called Yilgarn Craton The identified geological subdivisions within this Precambrian structure do not show an obvious relation to the seismicity.
The zone represents a significant seismic hazard to Perth. More than six thousand earthquakes have occurred in the SWSZ in the years 1968–2002. Meckering, Cadoux and Burakin earthquakes originated in the SWSZ. More recent events have occurred to the south in Lake Muir in 2018 and Arthur River in 2022.
The zone and the explanation of it, has been titled Perthquake in the Catalyst programme on the ABC in 2001.http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s392312.htm PerthQuake
Temporal variation of the events in the region have been analysed over time.M.O. Michael-Leiba Temporal variation in seismicity of the Southwest Seismic Zone, Western Australia: implications for earthquake risk assessment, Geoscience Australia In the 2000s, monitoring and instrumentation was developed in the region.
See also Earthquakes in Western Australia
Notes
References Featherstone, Will (1998) Geodetic monitoring of the South West Seismic Zone paper at Curtin University of Technology 24 25 September 1998 to the Advances in Deformation Monitoring International Workshop