Australian Crustal Stress Measurements from Earthquakes and In-Situ Tests

Eight earthquake focal mechanisms since 1967 and in-situ stress measurements from mines and tunnels indicate substantial horizontal compression across the Australian continent. The data includes stress magnitudes up to 23 MPa and principal stress orientations varying by region, such as north-south in eastern NSW and east-west in the west. This evidence challenges simple plate tectonic models for explaining the observed high stresses.

Use Cases

• Model regional stress fields based on earthquake focal mechanism and in-situ measurement data.
• Compare stress orientations between different geological regions of Australia mentioned in the description.
• Validate plate tectonic models against observed high stress magnitudes and directions.
• Analyze stress magnitude variations relative to earthquake epicenters, such as the 1968 Meckering event.

Strengths

• Includes specific stress magnitude measurements, such as 23 MPa at a northern site and 4 MPa near the Meckering epicentre.
• Covers multiple data sources: earthquake focal mechanisms, in-situ over-coring, and surface deformation observations.
• Provides principal stress orientations for different regions, like north-south in eastern NSW and east-west in the west.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on specific Australian sites and events from 1967-1979.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Combined evidence from earthquake focal mechanisms, in-situ stress measurements in mines/tunnels, and surface deformations.

Time Range

Measurements and events from 1967 to 1979.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06 27 17:06:29.916528; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian continent, with specific sites including Meckering, Calingiri, NSW locations (Buckleys Lake, Jindabyne, Milton, Moruya, Ardlethan, Mirrool, Berrigan, Tocumwal), Broken Hill, and Cobar.