Where Earthquakes Occur Earthquakes primarily occur along or near the fault lines of the Earth's tectonic plates due to the majority of the Earth's pressure located there. As Australia is not located on a fault line, we don't get many large earthquakes. The state with the largest amount of Earthquakes is Western Australia. Most earthquakes in the Oceanic region occur in Indonesia (Jakarta, Surabaya) and Papua New Guinea, as shown by the map located below