Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15

Seismic microzonation in Australia

Vagn H. Jensen*
School of Earth Sciences, University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-79, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia

Abstract

Since the 1980s seismic microzonation studies have been undertaken in Australia to assess the likely e€ects of earthquakes on
urban centres built on unconsolidated sediments. Presently the Nakamura method is used for processing data.
So far parts of Perth, Adelaide, Cairns, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Newcastle, Sydney and Launceston have been zoned. The
Launceston, Tasmania, study was the pilot study for many of these as it re®ned the methodology used and the data obtained
were incorporated into a GIS database. Building heights and site factor zoning maps were produced for the Launceston City
Council.
One of the major activities, of the new initiative by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO), popularly known
as the `Cities Project', is coordinating seismic microzonation throughout Australia. Microzonation data have been included in
AGSO's geohazards GIS database. This is helping local councils zone land for seismic hazards. State Emergency Services use the
information to plan for emergencies resulting from the e€ects of earthquakes. These practical applications of seismic
microzonation data will help mitigate the destructive e€ects of any future large earthquakes occurring near major urban centres.
In the Launceston case it was found that there is a variable risk dependant on epicentral distance and the nature of relatively
unconsolidated sediments in various parts of the city. Disastrous ampli®cation could occur at some sites. # 1999 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Sections of most major cities in Australia are built

Australian seismic microzonation studies were pio-
neered in Perth, Western Australia, during the 1980s
(Gaull et al., 1990). However the 28 December 1989,
Newcastle, NSW, earthquake, which killed 13 people
and caused billions of dollars of damage, became the
real catalyst for Australian seismic microzonation stu-
dies to ascertain seismic risk in a number of other
urban centres partly built on unconsolidated sedi-
ments. These are coordinated by AGSO through its
`Cities Project'.
Until the Newcastle earthquake, it was felt that
earthquakes represented a rather insigni®cant hazard
in Australia. However it is now appreciated that even
though Australia is situated on a relative stable tec-
tonic plate, it does have appreciable seismic risk.
on unconsolidated sediments where the e€ects of earth-
quake shaking are magni®ed (see section on
Ampli®cation). Hence the need for seismic microzona-
tion studies of these areas to determine, if possible, the
degree of ampli®cation and the period of local ground
resonance to be expected.
This paper endeavours to give an overview of the
seismic microzonation studies undertaken in Australia
since 1989. It discusses the instrumentation and meth-
odologies used, illustrated by examples from a study
undertaken in Launceston, Tasmania, which became
the pilot study for other urban areas.
The reference section at the end of the paper pro-
vides a bibliography of papers that deal in much
greater detail with each of the Australian surveys.

2. Australian earthquakes
* Tel.: +61-3-6226-2476; fax: +61-3-6223-7547.
E-mail address: vagn.jensen@utas.edu.au (V.H. Jensen). Australian earthquakes are shallow (McCue et al.,

1367-9120/00/$ - see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 6 7 - 9 1 2 0 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 8 - 6
4 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15

Fig. 1. Site in¯uence on spectral response (King, 1996).

1995), a major reason for the greater damage from

relatively small events compared to other areas in the Fig. 2. P and S waves refracted up through progressively lower vel-
world. They tend to have high amplitudes but short ocity layers (Gibson, 1990).
durations, i.e. high accelerations at high frequencies
(sometimes >10 Hz). During the last 100 years poten-
tially destructive earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or lar-
centre, whereas surface waves cause most of the
ger have occurred with an average frequency of one
damage from far ®eld (>100s of km) earthquakes.
per seven years if foreshocks and aftershocks are
As P and S waves approach the surface through low
excluded (Michael-Leiba and Dent, 1994). They are
velocity layers they are refracted towards the vertical
randomly distributed throughout the continent. The
(Fig. 2). The surface layers will vibrate preferentially
possibility of such an earthquake occurring within
at their own natural frequencies, which depend on the
100 km of one of the eight capital cities in the next
thickness and elastic properties of the layers. This res-
100 years is estimated to be about 40% (McCue et al.,
onance e€ect increases the wave amplitude as does the
1996).
slowing down of the wavefront through the lower vel-
Samali et al. (1994), discuss a number of close up
ocity layer(s). Weak surface sediments absorb seismic
(6±9 km from epicentre) ground acceleration records
energy especially at high frequencies. The three e€ects;
and acceleration response spectra records from major
ampli®cation, resonance and attenuation all depend on
Australian earthquakes such as Cadoux 1987 and
the depths and properties of the sediments (Gibson,
1990, and Tennant Creek 1988. There are very few
1990). The Nakamura method (see below) estimates
near-®eld accelerograms of major Australian earth-
experimentally the combined e€ects of these three par-
quakes. The AS 1170.4-1993 loading code is largely
ameters compared with bedrock motions.
based on response spectra from Californian earth-
The September 19, 1985, Mexican earthquake
quakes.
(Michoacan Earthquake), Ms 8.1, provided an extreme
example of how local soil conditions can amplify seis-
mic waves. The epicentre was situated 300 km away
3. Resonance and ampli®cation in low velocity
from Mexico City in the Paci®c Ocean.
unconsolidated sediments
Resonances of the soil-®lled basin under parts of
Mexico City ampli®ed ground motions for periods of
Near-surface soils modify the spectral response and
2 s (frequency=0.5 Hz) by a factor of up to 75 times.
transmission of energy waves released from a seismic
This shaking led to selective damage to buildings 15±
rupture plane. These e€ects are usually unique to a
25 storeys high (same resonant period), resulting in
speci®c site. Typically rock or sti€ soil sites have
losses of about US$ 4.0 billion and at least 8000 fatal-
greater short period response (i.e. greatest energy
ities (Spence et al., 1989). Singh et al. (1988) reports
within the 0±0.4 second range), but experience more
that the motion in the lake bed zone was ampli®ed 8±
rapid decay and lower long period response (Fig. 1).
50 times with respect to a hill zone site and that the re-
Conversely soft soils may ®lter (attenuate) some short
lation f0=b/4H applies, where f0=the frequency at
period response, resonate and therefore amplify exci-
which maximum relative amplitude occurs; b=the
tation when the basement excitation is sympathetic
shear wave velocity; H = the thickness of the sediment
with their own natural period, and have little e€ect on
layer. This is known as the ``quarter wavelength the-
longer period response (King, 1996). S waves are most
ory''.
destructive in the near ®eld (10s of km) from the hypo-
Soft soils are also thought responsible for much of
 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15
Fig. 3. Map of Australia, showing acceleration coecient (a) with a 10% chance of being exceeded in 50 years (Australian Standard 1170.4-
1993).
the damage in the 28 December 1989, Newcastle earth-
quake (Somerville et al., 1993).
Three factors contribute to the degree of vibration a
structure experiences during an earthquake:
1. the structure itself, its height and mass (resonant
period);
2. the footings;
3. the materials the footings are anchored to (see
above). This last item determines the ''S' factor used
in AS1170.4 1993 (see below). (`S' 0.65=solid rock,
`S' 2.0= > 12 m of loose sand etc.).
It is assumed for the discussions in this paper that a
single storey building has a resonant period of 0.1 s, a
two storey 0.2 s and so on, generalising to an N storey
building having a period of 0.1N s.
5
4. AS1170.4-1993, loading code
In 1993 the Australian Standard 2121-1979
(Standards Australia, 1979) earthquake loading code
was replaced with Australian Standard AS1170.4-1993
(Standards Australia, 1993) which incorporates the
knowledge gained from a greatly improved earthquake
data base accumulated over an additional 14 years of
instrumental recordings.
AS1170.4-1993, incorporates maps of Australia
showing the acceleration coecient (an index related
to the expected severity of earthquake ground motion
measured in % g) with a 10% chance of being
exceeded in 50 years. A probabilistic analysis was car-
ried out to produce maps with contours of locations
with equal probabilities of receiving speci®c ground
motion for average ground conditions (Fig. 3).
6 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15
Fig. 4. Seismogram of 8 May, 1990, Cadoux earthquake. Note the di€erence in amplitude (>10 times) between Mundaring (rock site) and
Kewdale (Perth Basin sediments).
The urban areas discussed in this paper are not aver-
age ground conditions, but unconsolidated sediments
(also described by various authors as soils, ®ll and
alluvium) with low shear wave velocities. These are to
some degree accounted for in the tables of the site fac-
tor `S' for general and domestic structures associated
with various soil pro®les. However the site factors
used appear to be too low. The maximum ratio of
ampli®cation allowed for in the Loading Code is three
(from 0.67±2). In their conclusions to a microzonation
paper on Rockhampton, McCue and Boreham (1996)
make this comment: ``We have highlighted the poten-
tial for a resonance between the building's natural
period and that of a soil layer on which it is founded,
and suggest the need for revision of the table specify-
ing soil factors in the Loading Code.'' Gaull et al.
(1995) mentions that the maximum peak ground vel-
ocity measured during the 8 May 1990, Cadoux earth-
quake, at the KEW site (unconsolidated sediments in
Perth) was ten times that at the reference site MGO
(Mundaring Geophysical Observatory), a rock site
(Fig. 4).
In the AS 1170.4 Supplement 1-1993, some attention
is drawn to the importance of the resonance e€ect of
unconsolidated deep sediment. The following comment
is made; ``Special dynamic analysis procedures should
be adopted for structures judged to be susceptible to
`Mexico City' (see Ampli®cation) type damage on soft
soil deposits, i.e. a resonance type response due to pro-
gressive lengthening of the structure period. NEHRP
(1988) stated that this resonance response is most
likely for structures having calculated periods greater
than or equal to 0.7 s. Structures with natural periods
of less than 0.5 s do not require these analysis pro-
cedures.
Note that the 0.7 s calculated structure period is
comparable to the calculated predominant soil period
(Tsoil) for soft soils considered as a single layer system
using the following equation with hn=20 m Vs=120 m/
s'':
4hn
Tsoil ˆ
Vs
where hn=total height of the structure above the struc-
tural base; Vs=total earthquake shear velocity (in m/
s).
Samali et al. (1994) discuss the acceleration response
spectrum proposed in AS 1170.4-1993 in relation to
the dynamic analysis of buildings and other structures
and attempt to analyse ®ve major Australian earth-
quakes to develop a unique Australian design response
spectra for inclusion in any future revised loading
code.
Many civil engineers in Australia are still unaware
of both the resonance e€ect of deep sediments and the
seismic microzonation data that have been accumu-
 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15
lated over the last few years. Any new loading code
needs to pay more attention to these matters so that
engineers designing structures to be erected on uncon-
solidated sediments will be aware of and use the infor-
mation available. King (1996) comments: ``It is
essential that the end user (i.e. the structural engineer)
is able to accurately determine which soil conditions
should be applied to any given site. Thus although
shear wave velocity may be the actual site parameter
to be considered, a fuller description of geotechnical
properties (such as depth, density, cohesion, etc.) may
be needed to minimise the designer uncertainty.''
5. Empirical methods used to estimate local site
response frequency and ampli®cation
Until 1989, the Standard Spectral Ratio (SSR)
method or variations of it were used in seismic micro-
zonation studies throughout the world. Nakamura
(1989) proposed a new method, the Single Station
Spectral Ratio (SSSR), now known as the `Nakamura'
method, which measures the three components of
background noise at a site and from these computes
the site-speci®c resonant frequency. This latter method
has been used extensively in Australia.
5.1. Standard Spectral Ratio (SSR) method
The SSR method measures the spectral (Fourier)
ratio of earthquake shaking at low velocity unconsoli-
dated sedimentary sites with respect to a nearby bed-
rock reference site. Seismographs are installed in the
®eld and left to record earthquakes. As long as the
spacing is relatively small the path e€ects will be simi-
lar. The method gives the frequency dependent site re-
sponse amplitude, or ampli®cation, relative to the rock
site.
This method works well where there are frequent
earthquakes as is the case in New Zealand, but even
there it is cumbersome and expensive as a great num-
ber of seismographs are needed or it will take an im-
practical amount of time to acquire enough data to
zone an area. In Australia earthquakes are far too
infrequent to use this method.
The SSR method has also been attempted recording
microtremor noise, rather than actual earthquakes,
simultaneously on hard rock and sediments and then
take the spectral ratio of the recorded components. In
Launceston, Tasmania this method was tried at the
Coronation Park (sediments) and Gees Lookout (the
nearest dolerite rock site). However the noise level was
so much greater at the sediment site that the spacial
ratios could not be used to determine the resonance
period. In Perth, WA, Newcastle, NSW and
Rockhampton, Qld, useful data were obtained using
7
Fig. 5. Block diagram of ®eld equipment set up.
this method (Gaull et al., 1995, Somerville et al., 1993;
McCue and Boreham, 1996). AGSO plans to reassess
the Perth data using the Nakamura method (see
below) in the near future.
5.2. Single station spectral ratio (SSSR) or `Nakamura'
method
In a classic paper, Nakamura (1989) proposed using
the ever present microtremor low amplitude vibration
in the ground (1±10 microns), due to waves, wind, cars
and trucks, etc. instead of the shockwave from an
earthquake. This method does not require a reference
station. Nakamura found good agreement between his
method and that of recording actual earthquakes (the
SSR method). His method involves computing the
spectral ratio of each of the horizontal components
(E±W and N±S) of ground motion relative to the verti-
cal component. Lermo and Chavaz-Garcia (1994) and
Field et al. (1995) found this technique to give the best
result in estimating the dominant period of a site,
when compared with the results from an actual earth-
quake.
The Nakamura method gives the best site frequency
response estimate available at the moment and also
gives some indication of the ampli®cation to be
expected at a site. The theory behind his method is not
well understood.
The Nakamura method can be used on windy days
and at times of heavy trac, provided noise sources
are not too close to the recording equipment (Michael-
Leiba, 1995). This is the method mostly used in recent
seismic microzonation surveys in Australia, except for
Perth, one Newcastle study and Rockhampton. It
lends itself well to the Australian situation, where
earthquakes are rare phenomena. Additional advan-
tages are low cost and the speed with which many sites
(upwards of 50 or more) can be sampled in one day.
A Norwegian paper (Atakan and Havskov, 1996)
8 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15
Fig. 6. Frequency response of the L-4C-3D seismometer.
represents the ®rst attempt at providing some cali-
bration to analytically obtained local site response esti-
mates on the continental shelf (for footings of oilrigs)
using the Nakamura method. These data were com-
pared with those obtained from land based stations,
using the Nakamura method and then checked against
data obtained from teleseismic and local earthquakes.
A comparison of these data con®rmed that the
Nakamura method worked well.
6. Methodology
6.1. Field techniques and equipment
Seismic microzonation surveys using the Nakamura
method may be undertaken with very simple equip-
ment (Fig. 5). In Australia a three-component Kelunji
Fig. 7. Australian urban centres that have been microzoned as part of the `Cities Project'.
(see Acknowledgments) digital seismograph together
with a three component 1 Hz. Mark Products L4C-3D
seismometer (particle velocity transducer Fig. 6), a lap-
top computer and a 12 V car battery are used at a site.
These components can be set up in a few minutes. The
seismograph is programmed via the laptop to record
six sets of 8000 or more samples at one hundred
samples per second, using a 1/3 to 1/4 frequency anti-
alias ®lter. After sampling the records are downloaded
to the laptop.
6.2. Processing
A Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is performed on
each record. The horizontal surface frequency spectra
transforms are divided by the corresponding vertical
spectra and a plot made of the result (see Fig. 11).
This procedure isolates the site e€ects from the source
e€ects. It is assumed that the vertical component
undergoes little or no change as it passes through the
unconsolidated sediments.
7. `Cities project'
The AGSO National Vulnerability of Urban
Communities Project (better known as the `Cities
Project') is aimed at ®nding the answers to many ques-
tions associated with the geohazards risk to urban
communities and determining the vulnerability of
Australian urban areas (Fig. 7) to the e€ects of a
broad range of geological hazards. This understanding
provides emergency managers and planners with infor-
mation and decision support systems that will aid in
the mitigation of the e€ects of geological hazards.
 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15
Fig. 8. Earthquake epicentres in the Tasmanian Region. (Michael-Leiba and Jensen, 1995/96).
In its ®rst phase, this project will run from 1996±97
to 1999±2000. During this period it is planned to
develop techniques, methodologies and standards
tested in `real world' pilot studies. The research pro-
gram was centred on Cairns and Gladstone,
Queensland, in 1996±97. During the remainder of the
®rst phase period the following centres are also being
covered: Mackay, greater Brisbane, the Gold Coast,
the Sunshine Coast together with Botany (Sydney),
Adelaide, Launceston and Newcastle. In each of these
studies the emphasis will be on undertaking detailed
seismic and other microzonation studies. Parallel stu-
dies of community vulnerability will be undertaken
and mapped in the same Risk-GIS environment
(AGSO, 1997). AGSO has developed computer pro-
grams with the capability to model the two-dimen-
sional wave®eld earthquake shaking sediments.
The `Cities Project' has been established to maximise
the safety, sustainability and prosperity of urban com-
munities. To achieve this, it develops and disseminates
the best available information for urban planners, en-
gineers, emergency managers and risk managers to use
in mitigating the e€ects on the community of the
impact of a wide range of geological hazards.
9
8. Tasmania
8.1. Launceston
Between 1884 and the present, the city of
Launceston, Tasmania, has been damaged on ®ve oc-
casions by earthquakes with epicentres up to 200 km
away in the West Tasman Sea, just east of Flinders
Island (Fig. 8). As it was thought that the damage was
due to ampli®ed site response (Michael-Leiba and
Jensen, 1993), the Launceston City Council requested
AGSO to prepare a zoning map of Launceston with
zones related to the requirements of Australian
Standard AS 1170.4-1993 (Standards Australia, 1993).
A seismic microzonation survey was carried out during
1994/95 using the Nakamura method and equipment
as mentioned above. Recordings were made at 53 sites
on sediment and three on dolerite.
As the depths of sediments were not well known, R.
Richardson, Mineral Resources Tasmania (unpub-
lished), carried out a detailed gravity survey. It
revealed (Fig. 9) a complex geology involving at least
two deep NNW±SSE trending valleys ®lled with vari-
ably consolidated sediments (Leaman, 1994). Some
10 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15

Fig. 9. Gravity map of Launceston (Leaman, 1994).

cover from these valleys still exist on hill sides and
tops and pose a landslip risk; from hydrological and
potentially from seismic causes. Any future earth-
quakes will a€ect these built-up areas.
Fig. 10 shows a 2D modeled cross section of line 4
on the gravity map (Fig. 9). The Brick®elds Reserve
station was situated on deep (240 m) sediments on the
Trevallyn Fault (Fig. 11, L6) and Windmill Hill
further to the east on a thinner (80 m) layer of sedi-
ments (Fig. 11, L7).
The results of this study suggest ampli®ed responses
of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments at 46 of the 53
sediment sites with periods ranging from 0.1 to more
than 1 s. The three dolerite sites showed no site reson-
ance (Fig. 11).
Sediments in the deep valleys showed ampli®cation
 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15 11

Fig. 10. 2D gravity model of line four of the Launceston gravity map (Fig. 9). Black is unconsolidated sediments (Leaman, 1994).

at periods from 0.7 to greater than 1 s (Fig. 11, L6),
which would be expected to most a€ect medium and
high rise buildings. Ceilings of houses in this zone
have been damaged by earthquakes. Natural periods
of 0.1±0.5 s were measured on Quaternary and
Tertiary sediments overlying shallow dolerite basement
in the eastern part of Launceston's Central Business
District. The buildings which would be most a€ected
by site resonance in this area would be low or medium
rise buildings. There have been several reported cases
of earthquake damage to these types of structures in
this area.
Based on the microtremor measurements, the new
soils map (Forsyth, 1995), the gravity results and

Fig. 11. Four resonant frequency plots of Launceston sites. L12, L3 are dolerite sites, and L7, L6 are unconsolidated sediment sites. Note the
shift in frequency with depth of unconsolidated sediments (L7, L6).
12 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15
Fig. 12. Perth Basin and closest seismic source zone. (Gaull et al.,
1995).
unpublished drill hole information a 1:10,000 zoning
map of Launceston was prepared showing where res-
onance may occur for low, medium and high rise
buildings in various parts of the city. The zones are
consistent with the microtremor measurements and
with most reports of damage in earthquakes. A
1:25,000 map was also drawn of the site factor `S' (dis-
cussed earlier under Ampli®cation by low velocity ma-
terials) de®ned in AS 1170.4-1993 (Standards
Australia, 1993). These maps provide a reasonable in-
dication of site response in any future earthquake o€
northeastern Tasmania, the source zone from which
Launceston has been damaged by earthquakes in the
past (Fig. 8).
The Launceston seismic microzonation data have
been included in the AGSO GIS database and also the
City of Launceston GIS database together with all the
city essential services data.
9. Western Australia
9.1. Perth
Perth is situated within 100 km of one of the most
seismically active zones in Australia (Fig. 12). Between
the years 1960 and 1995 the city has experienced the
shakings of an earthquake every year, the most
destructive being the 1968 Meckering earthquake.
Since then it has been recognised that Perth has signi®-
cant earthquake risk.
Gaull and Michael-Leiba (1987) strongly rec-
ommended a microzonation study of Perth in order to
assess the possibility of seismic ampli®cation on the
Perth Basin, upon which the city is built. Gaull et al.
(1990), reported on a preliminary microzonation study
of the Perth metropolitan areas using microtremor
spectral ratios.
In 1989 an agreement on a cooperative project
between the Japanese Promotion of Science in Japan
and both the Australian Academy of Science and the
Bureau of Mineral Resources (now AGSO), was made.
It was agreed that a pilot study using microtremor
spectral ratios (SSR method) would be investigated as
a mechanism to delineate seismic ampli®cation in the
Perth metropolitan area. This was undertaken during
1990/91 (Kagami et al., 1991; Gaull et al., 1992).
Only six seismographs were available for the survey.
Five were used in arrays on the basin. One was perma-
nently located at the reference site, Mundaring
Geophysical Observatory (MGO). The 5-station arrays
were moved more than 20 times to cover Perth metro
area with a 3 km grid. Nine traverses were made from
north to south, covering an area some 20 by 35 km.
The microtremor spectra obtained from these were
compared with the rock site, MGO. Fluctuations in
spectral ratios due to temporal changes in environmen-
tal conditions were minimised by taking late night sim-
ultaneous recordings over 2 nights for 100 s. The
sensors were oriented north, enabling direct compari-
sons of each component.
The data from two local and two teleseismic earth-
quakes were also recorded in this study and used for
calibrating the microtremor recordings. The two
Cadoux local earthquakes showed site ampli®cation of
about 8.5 times on the basin relative to the hard rock
site (Fig. 4). This site ampli®cation could not be attrib-
uted to anything but site e€ects as other variables such
as focal mechanism and wave path were either the
same or very similar for all the sites.
The study concluded that it is reasonable to assume
that sediments near Perth city have the potential to
amplify ground motion equivalent to at least one on
the intensity (Modi®ed Mercalli) scale above that of
average sites as de®ned by Gaull and others (1990). It
is planned to reassess the data from this survey using
the Nakamura method.
10. South Australia
10.1. Adelaide
The city of Adelaide has been subjected to a number
 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15 13

of earthquakes this century. The largest, a magnitude

ML(I) 6.0, was on 1 March 1954 (Love et al., 1995,
Love, 1996). It caused an estimated insurance payout
of AU$4,000,000. During 1996/97 a seismic microzo-
nation study was carried out in Adelaide. The results
have not been published as yet. The survey was funded
by International Decade for Natural Disaster
Reduction (IDNDR), Emergency Management
Australia, Canberra. 105 sites were measured covering
Adelaide City, North Adelaide and surrounding park-
lands. Surprisingly, a fairly pronounced low frequency
(1 Hz) resonance was found over most of the area.
This is assumed to be due to deep sediments (fairly
sti€ at shallow depths). The results are being entered
into a GIS database for use by the State Emergency
Services and will include microtremor data, aerial
photos, cadastre (building lots, etc.), main electricity
supply together with building information. (From per-
sonal communication with David Love, Mines and
Energy Department, SA).

Fig. 13. Newcastle earthquake, Modi®ed Mercalli intensity map.

Squares are permanent seismographs. The star is the epicentre.
(Somerville et al., 1993).
11. New South Wales

11.1. Sydney
The Sydney Pilot Earthquake Microzonation Project
(Jones et al., 1996) was undertaken to demonstrate a
technique which zones the likely ground shaking re-
sponse to potential earthquake activity, and to deter-
mine the utility of the technique as an aid to
emergency response planning in the Sydney region.
The area chosen covers the Homebush Bay±
Silverwater±Concord area and was selected because it
encompasses a variety of ground conditions and a
large amount of geological, cultural and spatial data
are available. The area covers about 4 by 5 km.
Data from 1300 boreholes and pits were used to
compile a three-dimensional geological map. Also
three hazard zonation maps were interpreted from the
geological and microtremor information. The two cri-
teria used to distinguish the zones in the three maps
were the Site Factor (S) and the vibrational period
range over which resonance and ampli®cation may be
observed.
11.2. Newcastle
The 28 December, 1989, Richter magnitude 5.6
Newcastle, NSW, earthquake dispelled forever the
notion that urban areas of Australia did not have to
worry about earthquake hazards. With 13 fatalities,
160 injuries and the greatest insurance payout
(>AU$2 billion) in Australian recorded history, all
due to a relatively small earthquake, it became obvious
that the urban areas of the major cities should be
zoned for earthquake risk.
In the case of Newcastle the area experiencing the
greatest seismic intensity was located 10 km from the
epicentre and roughly corresponded to the area of allu-
vial or ®ll cover (Figs. 13 and 14). The fault mechan-
ism was such that maximum shear wave energy would
be directed toward Newcastle, thus aggravating the
magni®ed shakings experienced as a result of the soil
ampli®cation due to deep unconsolidated sediments.
The Newcastle seismic microzonation study by
Somerville et al. (1993) used the SSR method (dis-
cussed above). It found a good correlation between
building damage and alluvial/®ll cover. Ampli®ed re-
sponse was observed at frequencies ranging from 1.5
to 10 Hz, at sites with alluvial depth ranging from 40
to 5 m.
The Newcastle Region Public Library has accumu-
lated a huge database with over 3000 bibliographical
entries on the Newcastle earthquake. It brings together
all the published and unpublished information relating
to the 1989 earthquake. This can be accessed via
INTERNET. Two CDs have been produced: 1.
Earthquake & the Built Environment, and 2.
Engineering & Applied Science. The Library-address
is: P.O. Box 489, Newcastle, NSW 2300.
12. Conclusions
Since 1989 many seismic microzonation studies have
14 V.H. Jensen / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 (2000) 3±15
Fig. 14. Correspondence between the area of alluvial and/or ®ll cover (dashed line) and the area of highest intensity. Squares are microtremor
monitoring sites. The depth to bedrock (m) is indicated. (Somerville et al., 1993).
been undertaken in Australia. Lately these have used
the `NAKAMURA' method. Much useful data have
been accumulated and incorporated into the `Cities
Project' GIS database. A greatly improved understand-
ing of earthquake hazard in Australia has been gained.
This information should be incorporated into the next
Australian Standards Loading Code. An education
program should also be undertaken to make practicing
civil engineers aware of the information available. The
work undertaken in Australia could easily be dupli-
cated in other regions, such as South East Asia, at a
modest cost, but potentially with huge savings in lives
and money.
Acknowledgements
The Seismology Research Centre, Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, Vic.,
Australia, manufacture Kelunji seismographs. I wish
to thank Brian Gaull, Guria Consulting, Witchcli€e,
WA, Gary Gibson, Seismology Research Centre,
RMIT, Melbourne, Vic., Marion Michael-Leiba,
AGSO, Canberra, ACT, for reading the manuscript
critically and suggesting improvements and corrections.
I also thank David Leaman for his comments on the
gravity map of Launceston, and Debbie Harding,
Harding & Associates, for her excellent drafting of the
®gures.
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