Magnitude 4.7 earthquake strikes Western Australia – with hundreds of residents waking up to the tremors
- A 4.7 magnitude earthquake has hit the WA Great Southern town of Wagin
- Tremors felt as far away as Perth to the north-west, 200km from the town
- Wagin shire president compared the light rumbling to a ‘truck driving past’
A 4.7 magnitude earthquake has hit the Western Australian Great Southern town of Wagin shortly before 5.30am on Tuesday.
Tremors have been felt, including a 2.6 magnitude one near the nearby town of Darkan.
The quake was about eight kilometres deep, says Geoscience Australia, with 518 reports made to the earthquake tracking service.
Wagin shire president Phillip Blight compared the light rumbling from the earthquake to a ‘truck driving past’.
A 4.7 magnitude earthquake has hit the WA Great Southern town of Wagin shortly before 5.30am on Tuesday
‘It sustained enough to know it was an earthquake,’ he told The West Australian.
Ex-Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi was among those to report feeling tremors as far away as the Western Australian capital – about 230km away from the epicentre.
‘Earthquake Perth?’ she wrote.
Her followers confirmed they too had felt shaking in the early hours of the morning.
‘I thought I was losing my mind.. the bed shook for a few seconds,’ one wrote.
‘I felt a slight shake, the wardrobe doors were shaking. Strange to feel in Perth,’ another said.
Wagin is renowned for its sheep industry and its giant ram statue.
Ex-Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi was among those to report feeling tremors as far away as the Western Australian capital
The quake was about eight kilometres deep, says Geoscience Australia, with 518 reports made to the earthquake tracking service
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake hit the East Pilbara region of Western Australia (seen as a red marker) in November
Cr Blight said the famous statue appeared to have survived the shaking and was still in a good condition.
In November a magnitude 5.4 earthquake hit WA’s East Pilbara region.
Two months earlier, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake rocked Melbourne and demolished part of a Betty’s Burgers restaurant on the city’s famous Chapel Street – with residents living as far away as Sydney, South Australia and Tasmania feeling the tremors.