WA: Quake hits Kalgoorlie, damages buildings

AAP General News (Australia)
04-20-2010
WA: Quake hits Kalgoorlie, damages buildings

Eds: Updates quake magnitude and time on updated information from Geoscience Australia.



PERTH, April 20 AAP - Hotels and other buildings have been damaged by an earthquake
which has hit the West Australian Goldfields towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder.

So far there have been no reports of serious injuries in the magnitude 5.0 quake which
struck at 8.17am (WST) on Tuesday, Geoscience Australia said.

e town's Super Pit gold mine has been shut down and a street cordoned off in Boulder
where several hotels have been damaged, with roof and verandah collapses reported.

One hotelier told 6PR Radio of pulling one of his female workers out of rubble but
she was not seriously injured.

Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepsen said the quake hit about 10km southwest
of Kalgoorlie and was fairly shallow.

"People in Kalgoorlie would have experienced strong shaking.

"We would expect people up to several hundred kilometres away would have felt it."

Minor damage and toppling of items from shelves would be expected, Mr Jepsen said.

"This is the largest event in the last 25 years in this region and it might be the
largest since we started recording," he said.

The quake was significantly larger than the mining explosions that regularly rocked
the towns, Mr Jepsen said.

Aftershocks would be of much lower magnitude and should be of no concern, he said.

AAP ldj/bwl

KEYWORD: QUAKE WA UPDATE (REISSUING)

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