At two in the morning, a powerful earthquake in the middle Wheatbelt woke up people in Perth.
The short depth of the earthquake increased its force, causing beds to tremble and nerves to jangle across the city.
Wyalkatchem, which is 192 kilometres northeast of Perth, was the location of the 4.8 magnitude earthquake.
Because of its shallow depth, the earthquake was felt closer to the epicentre than it would have been if it had been deeper.
Most of the hundreds of reports that have been sent to Geoscience Australia so far have been from people in Perth who said that their beds swayed during the tremor.
“It lasted about 2–5 seconds, enough to rock my bed as if someone was beside it physically rocking the frame,” said one resident.
According to one resident of East Perth, the experience was extraordinary.
“I live in an apartment on the 24th floor in the city and it felt like someone was shaking my bed but like it was floating and shaking,” they said.
“Parents described it as they thought it was a ghost.”
Many locals said they were awakened by the earthquake.
“It woke me up, shook all my windows in the house, and after all the rattling stopped you could feel the rattle pulsate slightly and hear it like the roar of thunder,” said another.
“It sounded like a truck motor starting at the other end of the building,” another resident told ABC Radio Perth.
“It seemed to go through the building, as if it was going through the roof.”
“I went to check outside to see if there was a truck going past. But there was nothing.”
Trevor Allen, a senior seismologist, told ABC Radio Perth that reports were coming from people who were distant from the epicentre of the earthquake.
“The earthquake appears to have been felt extensively throughout south-western WA, including in Perth,” he said.
“And it has been felt as far away as Kalgoorlie.”
Since July of last year, around 130 earthquakes have been reported throughout the Wheatbelt, according to Dr. Allen.
“The region has been quite active for the past 12 months,” he said.
“A couple of days ago there was a magnitude 4. And prior to today’s event, the largest earthquake in the region was a magnitude 4.5”
“This is certainly the largest earthquake we have seen in the current sequence in the Wyalkatchem area.”
Seven minutes after the first earthquake, one aftershock has been detected thus far.
After a major earthquake like this one, smaller aftershocks typically occur in the same location days or even years later.