October 14, 1968 Earthquake: Meckering, Northam, Cunderdin, York, Australia
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Meckering, Northam, Cunderdin, York, Australia on October 14, 1968 at 02:58:47 UTC, 1 km below the surface.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- October 14, 1968
- Time
- 02:58:47 UTC
- Place
- Meckering, Northam, Cunderdin, York, Australia
- Magnitude
- 6.8 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 1 km (1 mi)
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 31.500° S, 117.000° E
- Country
- Australia
The toll
- Injuries
- 28
- Damage
- $2.6 million
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #1200 lists magnitude 6.9, MMI IX, and $2.2 million damage.
Reference #1039 lists magnitude 7.4 and $2.2 million damage.
Reference #14033 lists 31 million $AUS (1990) [24 million USD (1990); 6 million USD (1968)] (reference #14033)
Reference #1250 lists $2.6 million damage.
28 injured and all buildings damaged or destroyed at Meckering. Slight damage at Kalgoorlie, Perth and York. Felt over a wide area of southwestern Australia. A 29 km long arcuate fault scarp formed 1 km NW of Meckering with 1.5 meter vertical displacement (reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1968The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1968Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 4468.