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WA: Wheatbelt town has had 100 earthquakes in a month


08 Mar 2009 6:52 PM

There's been a whole lot of shaking going on in a small West Australian wheatbelt town.

Geoscience Australia seismologist PHIL CUMMINS says Beacon .. 320km north-west of Perth .. has had roughly 100 earthquakes in the last month .. some of them above three on the Richter scale.

The largest .. which registered nearly five on the Richter Scale .. came within 24 hours of earthquakes in Melbourne and off the coast near Broome on Friday.

The earthquake clusters .. known as swarms .. aren't unusual for the wheatbelt area but what is unusual is the migration of the swarms around the wheatbelt.

The seismic activity's expected to continue for some time.

AAP RTV ah/crh