There was a really, really bad series of them during an earthquake in Japan in 1923. Yokohama was basically destroyed, and then 60% of Tokyo burned to the ground.
The Japanese term for them is "fire dragon". As a bonus the temperature near them reaches 2500 degrees Celsius. The Great Kanto Earthquake's fire whirl killed 38,000 people in around 15 minutes. Its not just Australia, and that one is tiny in comparison to how big they can get.
Had to look that up, I never heard of it.
![]()
The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923
The powerful quake and ensuing tsunami that struck Yokohama and Tokyo traumatized a nation and unleashed historic consequenceswww.smithsonianmag.com