The magnitude 4.7 earthquake in the Hunter Valley region may impact the Coalition’s aims of placing a nuclear power plant in the area. Image source: Rob Freijs, via Wikimedia Commons.
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake hit the Upper Hunter Valley on Friday, close to one of Peter Dutton’s proposed nuclear energy sites.
The earthquake’s epicentre was near Muswellbrook, around 250 kilometres north-west of Sydney. Tremors were felt as far away as Coffs Harbour, Sydney, and Canberra, according to Geoscience Australia.
The quake was originally identified as magnitude 5.0 before being downgraded twice, with over 2,500 people reporting
Senior Seismologist Hadi Ghasemi stated that they received reports of “moderate to light levels of ground-shaking”, describing these occurrences as “closer to the epicentre”.
Minor infrastructure damage has been reported in the area.
The quake’s epicentre was near the Liddell Power Station, one of the sites identified by the Coalition for a future nuclear power plant.
Ted O’Brien, Shadow Energy Minister, stated that if an earthquake risk was identified in the Hunter Valley, then nuclear energy plans would be abandoned in the area.
“If there is a feasibility study done and that comes back with advice that says any power plant should not proceed, then a power plant would not proceed full stop.”
Peter Keegan, Deputy Northern Zone Commander for the New South Wales State Emergency Service, stated that crews responded to reports of damage after 11 calls were received.
“There had been a number of reports of damage in the Muswellbrook area—broken windows, and a chimney damaged in the Maitland area”, said Keegan.
NSW Police also provided a statement, corroborating the lack of injuries but reminding dam owners in the region to check for structural issues and “ensure that dam integrity has not been affected”.
Dams in the area include a tailings dam as part of BHP’s Mount Arthur Coal Mine and water storage facilities run by Hunter Water.
Hunter Water had stated in July that it was taking “immediate action to reduce storage at Grahamstown to 90 per cent capacity” after a comprehensive risk assessment found that the site could be compromised by an earthquake.
The company reported visual inspections had been carried out regarding the Grahamstown and Chichester Dams after the quake and found no visible damage.
BHP also stated that their dam was undamaged, saying that some of its workers “required first aid for minor injuries from falling items” but that “no one was seriously hurt”.
NSW Health and the police have received no reports of injuries.
