Australia's largest recorded earthquake was in 1988 at Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, with an estimated magnitude of 6.6. It occurred in a sparsely populated area and resulted in damage to a major gas pipeline.

On 21 May 2016, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred in the Petermann Ranges region approximately 125 km southwest of Uluru in the Northern Territory. It was the largest Australian earthquake since a magnitude 6.2 was recorded offshore Collier Bay, Western Australia in 1997.