M4.0 earthquake Western Australia
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck in Western Australia on Sun, Dec 21, 1980, 3:23 AM GMT+8 (19:23 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.9 Western Australia. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.0 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1980-12-20 19:23:25 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 22.153° S, 126.640° E
- Region
- Australia
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 6
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayAustralia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001bch. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 1:49 AM UTC.