Earthquakes have occurred in Western Australia (WA) on a regular basis throughout its geological history. In 1849, the first earthquake following European settlement in WA was recorded. "On Saturday last, about a quarter past four o'clock a.m., several inhabitants of Perth were awoke by what they conceived to be a slight shock of an earthquake." The largest earthquake affecting Western Australia in modern times was an offshore earthquake in 2019, occurring 202 km west of Broome at a magnitude of 6.6 causing minor damage in the town itself. The strongest earthquake with its epicentre on land is the magnitude 6.5 Meckering earthquake of 1968, which caused injuries to at least 17 people and extensive property damage; it was the best-known earthquake in Western Australia the late twentieth century. The previous largest earthquake documented occurred in 1941, at Meeberrie, in the Murchison region. Like many earthquakes it remained little known, due to its lack of impact on urban areas. Initially reported at magnitude 7.2 – 7.3 it was eventually revised down to 6.3 in by Geoscience Australia in 2016. The Meckering quake was also revised down from 6.9 to 6.5 in the same year but in the process overtook the Meeberrie quake in strength. Recording Prior to scientific equipment being utilised to record earthquakes, newspaper reports appear to be the main source of historical information. Perth Observatory was the recording location from 1923 to 1959, when the Mundaring Geophysical Observatory was operated by the Bureau of Mineral Resources between March 1959 and April 2000. Subsequent to the closing of the Mundaring observatory, recording locations are more dispersed throughout the state. Significant earthquakes Western Australia's largest recorded onshore earthquake to date was at the Wheatbelt township of Meckering, in October 1968. See the separate section below. The Cadoux earthquake of 1979 with magnitude 6.1 caused surface rupturing, about long. The Meckering, Calingiri (several during 1970 and 1971) and Cadoux earthquakes led to the identification of a zone of seismicity known as the South West Seismic Zone. This zone has now been significantly mapped and analysed and is the most active zone in Western Australia. Exmouth 1906 The earthquake which occurred in 1906 about NW of Exmouth occurred before world earthquake monitoring had really developed. With an estimated magnitude of 7.5, it is probably the largest earthquake known to have occurred in the Australian region. Kalgoorlie 1917 On 28 August 1917, tremor was