MeckeringBrief History The little wheatbelt town of Meckering is
located on the Great Eastern Highway, 132km
east-north-east of Perth and about 20 minutes from
Northam . John Forrest named the area
Meckering after the local well which bore the same name.
It is an Aboriginal word, however the meaning is unknown,
though some believe it means either "moon on the water"
or "good hunting". Forrest saw the area as a perfect
location for a railway siding for the Governments new
Eastern Goildfields Railway . In 1894, the line became
the second stop east of Northam. It wasn't long before
more land was taken up in the area, though water was
scarce. In 1895 the Government declared the area a
townsite and gave it the name, Beebering, a strange
decision considering the siding was known as Meckering
and Beebering was the name of a hill several kms away.
Two years later and by popular demand, the town's name
was changed to Meckering. By the early 1900's C.Y.
O'Connor's Goldfields pipeline had reached the town and
all was well for this growing community. Unfortunately in
1968 Meckering became a household name in Western
Australia for all the wrong reasons. On the 14th of
October 1968, Meckering was nearly wiped off the map by
an earthquake registering 6.9 on the richter scale. Click
for more information about Meckering Earthquake .
Things You May Not Know About Meckering The post code for Meckering is 6405.
The 1968, the earthquake which virtually destroyed the town, occurred on the "Queens Birthday", a public holiday in Western Australia. The 6.9 on the Richter Scale earthquake would last 40 seconds, with its epi-centre being 9km south-west of Meckering and leaving a fault line 32km long.
The earthquake had the force equivalent of 10 Hiroshima type atomic bombs. Meckering is home to the The Big Camera Museum, which is the only museum of photography open to the public anywhere in Australia. You can't miss it, the building is designed like a giant camera. Important Links To MeckeringMeckering Earthquake Tourist Centre |
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The Meckering Earthquake wasn't the largest
earthquake experienced in Western Australia. In 1941 an
earthquake in Meeberrie measured 7.2.