Face of Nation : The undersea earthquake occurred at 3.39pm AEST on Sunday off the shore between Port Hedland and Broome, in the Indian Ocean, GeoScience Australia reported.
The United States Geological Survey agency said the quake hit at a depth of 33 km, about 203 km offshore. It reported the magnitude at 6.9.
There is no threat of a tsunami to the Australian mainland, islands or territories, the weather bureau states.
Derby resident Jody Gaunt was having a beer with friends when they felt the quake. “We were sitting outside and our chairs were rocking,” she told.
“The trees stopped moving and the breeze stopped blowing. “We were thinking, ‘Is this real or not real?’ We’ve never had an earthquake up here, or a tremor.”
Karratha resident Mark McLaren said he felt the impact 835 kilometres to the south of Broome.
“Just had my first earthquake on Karratha…We felt it in Karratha. The whole house is vibrating, shaking and maybe lasted for 10 seconds. My first earthquake, pretty scary,” he said.
Ms Gaunt, 53, said the quake was the talk of the neighbourhood and it was reported that stock had been shaken off the shelves at the local Woolworths.
Over in Port Hedland, The Walkabout Hotel employee Shelley told AAP it felt like being on a vibrating machine.
“It felt like being on one of those vibrating machines. It just sort of shook the building,” she said, adding a colleague thought it was a jet from the neighbouring international airport taking off.
Pam Walker tweeted that the rattles lasted for longer than a minute. The Roey Hotel employee Cindy told AAP she saw cars moving in the earthquake.
“I was outside and I just saw the cars moving. It was a bit scary. You could see them moving. A few things fell off the walls onto the floors,” she said.
“It just went for a few seconds.” Gary, who works at the Mercure Hotel in Broome, said it started as a little shake before the doors and walls rattled.
“It started off with a shake, it was not too crazy and then it developed into quite a shake,” he told AAP, after experiencing his first earthquake.
“It was quite nerve-racking. We made our way outside. It was not too strong, it almost felt like when you are in a car and the wind is a bit strong, and then it started picking up.”
Locals took to social media to report they had felt the earth move.
Deb Hannagan, from Broome, tweeted: “We just had an earthquake in Broome! The whole house was shaking and it went for ages. Never experienced anything like it before – quite amazing!”
