4.5 magnitude earthquake strikes near Broome

A 4.5 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Broome in Western Australia.

The tremor, about 90km north west of the Kimberley town and 35km to the nearest coastline, was felt around 4.30am WST (7.30 AEDT), at a depth of 12km.

There are no reports of any damage to date.

Geoscience Australia spokesman Daniel Connolly said two people on the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome have so far reported feeling the earthquake to the agency without any damage being caused.

“Basically they used our website to report the earthquake but said there was no damage,” he said.

“They said they were asleep at the time and felt a rumbling, which is pretty much of what can be expected from an earthquake of that size that far away.”

He said it was important for people to report any information to the department to help build knowledge profiles of the area.

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Part owner of the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm on the Dampier Peninsula Alison Brown said her husband Bruce woke to what he thought was the sound of a jet engine.

“I didn’t hear that but by the time I woke up there was quite a rattle in the roof,” she said.

“It started to make this rattling noise like a big wind had hit it. It all happened very quickly and only lasted seconds.”

Ms Brown said the family experienced a bigger tremor several years ago at Cygnet Bay.

“Back then it sounded like a train was coming and a few things began to fall off the shelves so this one wasn’t as big as that.

“We have just got used to the fact we do get big earthquakes up here.”