Coastal Cliff Hazards Review for South West Australia

A 1996 rockfall at Gracetown's Huzzas Beach killed nine people, demonstrating the severe community risk from unstable coastal cliffs. This regional review documents coastal hazards along the limestone-dominated south-west coast of Western Australia, produced by the Australian Ocean Data Network. The record was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Classify cliff stability risk based on documented geological features like limestone composition and overhang presence.
• Map hazard zones by correlating specific coastal processes such as salt crystallisation and wind erosion with location data.
• Assess temporal trends in cliff collapse events using historical incident records like the 1996 Gracetown rockfall.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific, high-risk coastline with documented fatal incidents.
• Content last updated in April 2026, indicating recent maintenance.

Limitations

• Data volume and specific row/column counts are unknown, limiting reproducibility for quantitative models.
• Primary formats are PDF and HTML, which require extraction for structured analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

null

Time Range

Includes at least events up to 1996.

Freshness

Record updated April 2026.

Geography

South-west coast of Western Australia.