Geoscience Australia has released an Earthquake map highlighting areas which are at higher risk with the aim of giving the building and construction industry a better chance of predicting where the safest places to build are.
The map has been put together by studying ancient earthquakes records and there have been 168 earthquakes above 5.0 in the past 60 years with records from the past year showing 82 earthquakes over 3.0.
The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson said that it will better help the building industry design and plan for safer building infrastructure.
''Although these maps do not enable us to predict earthquakes, they will allow engineers and planners to design and locate buildings and infrastructure so as to better protect our communities,'' Minister Ferguson said.
Ferguson told Property observer that the information will be useful to other industries also.
“The underlying models and datasets, which have also been made publicly available, can be used by emergency managers, regional and urban planners, the insurance industry and researchers to undertake more detailed analysis,” Minister Ferguson said.
Seismologists from Geoscience Australia developed the map according to the history of earthquakes in Australia.
They said Australia has experienced 168 earthquakes above magnitude 5.0 since 1950, and last year alone, 82 earthquakes were recorded at a magnitude 3.0 or above.
The map can be viewed
here
