Queensland-based Kiwis react to 5.6 magnitude earthquake

Geoscience Australia recorded a 5.6 magnitude earthquake near Brisbane on Saturday morning. Photo / Geoscience Australia

Kiwis in Queensland have been rocked by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the Australian state this morning.

Geoscience Australia registered the shallow quake in a remote area about 170km northwest of Brisbane around 9.50am.

Thousands of “felt reports” were made to Geoscience Australia within an hour.

Sheryl Phillips, who moved to Queensland six days ago, told the Herald she was sitting outside having a coffee when she started to hear a “mechanical engine” like noise.

She thought initially the washing machine was rattling the windows of her house before it intensified and got “quite shaky”.

Phillips, who lives about 40km north of Brisbane in Morayfield, said the quake was “very short”.

“At one point, I wondered whether it was going to get bigger, but you always do that with earthquakes, don’t you?”

Phillips, originally from Whangārei, had experienced stronger earthquakes in New Zealand, she said.

“The people I’m staying with, they’re Queenslanders and they’ve never felt an earthquake before in their lives, so it was all very exciting here.”

Phillips hadn’t heard of any damage being caused, which she said was surprising because of how big and shallow the quake was.

Many other New Zealanders on the Kiwis in Brisbane Facebook page reported feeling the quake.

One said it brought back memories of the Christchurch earthquakes.

Some people said their houses shook while others said they didn’t feel the tremor.

Tremor strikes Brisbane

Tremors were felt as far south as Brisbane when the 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit Southeast Queensland today.

Geoscience Australia reported the quake in a remote area near Goomeri, northwest of the Sunshine Coast, at 9.49am on Saturday.

The quake was measured at a magnitude of 5.6 and at a depth of 2km.

There had been more than 9000 “felt reports”, according to Geoscience Australia.

More than 6500 homes were also hit by a power outage in the vicinity of the quake.

The outage was first reported at 9.49am, the exact time of the quake, but the cause was still being investigated, according to Ergon Energy.

A further 5204 customers were also impacted by a second outage near Hervey Bay, which was also under investigation and first reported at 9.50am.

Residents in Brisbane and swathes of the state’s southeast flooded social media with reports of tremors.

“My house began to noticeably shake/rock for no apparent reason,” one resident of Kelvin Grove in Brisbane’s outer suburbs said.

“WTF! We just had an earthquake,” said a person from Melaney, near the Sunshine Coast.

“I was still in bed and heard a deep rumble like a big truck going down the street, then the house – and bed – started to shake and the windows rattled.

“Next, my nephew’s wife rang, ‘Are you OK!’ They felt it in Brisbane, too!”

Former Premier Steven Miles shared a Google alert of the quake, stating: “Did you just feel the earthquake?”

Storm Chaser Justin Noonan said: “Pretty significant earthquake at that for Australian standards.”

Reports of the quake came in from across the southeast of the state, including Boondall and Oxley in Brisbane, Macleay Island near Moreton Bay, and Gympie.

– Additional reporting Lochlan Lineham, NZ Herald