Magnitude 5.6 earthquake recorded at Murgon, about 260km Brisbane
A service station manager ran for his life when an estimated magnitude 5.6 earthquake was recorded about 260km from Brisbane this morning, with residents as far south as northern NSW feeling their houses shake.
Queensland has been rattled by the largest onshore earthquake in 50 years, with an estimated magnitude 5.6 earthquake recorded about 260km from Brisbane this morning.
People across Queensland, including in Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Toowoomba, Bundaberg and as far south as the Gold Coast reported their houses shaking as a result.
Geoscience Australia, which monitors earthquakes, recorded the quake’s magnitude at 5.6 and a depth of 10km about 9.49am.
Geoscience Australia seismologist Michelle Salmon said it is the largest onshore Queensland event in 50 years.
Ms Salmon said the earthquake was also felt widely from Cairns to Wollongong.
The “epicentre’’ of the felt map was at Kilkivan, east of Murgon, Geoscience Australia reported.
A “felt map’’ showed reports of the quake’s impacts from Rockhampton to Lismore in northern NSW.
Sound on: Watch the video in the player above to hear the earthquake’s impact to a home in Kingaroy.
Goomeri BP service station manager Arun Tandon said he ran for his life after the quake struck.
“It was really loud, it sounded like someone had picked the shop up and then dropped it,‘’ Mr Tandon said.
“I just ran out of the shop like a bullet.‘’
He said the power was out for an hour and ceiling panels fell out.
Mr Tandon, who emigrated from Punjab in northern India, said he had experienced quakes three or four times before and knew he had to get outside.
“This is the first time in 11 or 12 years in Australia, but I’ve been through three or four in India,‘’ he said.
John Robinson, who owns newsagents in Murgon, Wondai and Kingaroy, said power went out in his Murgon and Wondai stores and his home near Murgon sustained some damage.
“Bricks have fallen off walls, shelves have opened, stuff has fallen off and the water tank is pissing water but there’s no real damage,’’ he said.
More than 1000 reports were made to Geoscience Australia in the Brisbane area and 649 in Caboolture.
There were another 634 reports from the Sunshine Coast including 78 from Maleny in the hinterland and more than 91 from the Gold Coast.
About 200 Toowoomba residents and 66 Kingaroy residents, as well as 52 Gympie locals.
Telephone connections to Murgon, near the epicentre, were disrupted with no calls getting through to local businesses.
Power had been down for about 13,000 households in the South Burnett and the Fraser Coast regions since 9.50am, according to Ergon Energy.
“The electrical protection equipment on our substations at Murgon and Burrum Heads operated during the tremor and now crews are working to return supply as soon as possible.”
Power was also cut to Murgon Hospital which has since fired up its generators.
“The whole house was shaking,” a Warner resident said.
The earthquake was also felt in Kingaroy, where some residents said the experience was “scary”.
Shoppers at Sunshine Plaza at Maroochydore could see shelves swaying as the tremor hit the popular centre on Saturday morning.
“I was in Target on the upper level of the Sunshine Plaza and then just felt the whole building shake, and then all the shelves just started rocking back and forth. It lasted probably about three seconds and that was about it,” shopper Jayden said.
South East Queensland residents took to social media in shock.
A New Farm resident said they felt a “mini earthquake” for about eight seconds.
“Our apartment was gently shaking for a moment and then it stopped,” they wrote on Facebook.
A Nundah resident was stunned to learn her shaking Queenslander was an earthquake.
“I’ve been googling the f*** out of it,” she exclaimed.
No #tsunami threat to Australia from #earthquake felt in Kilkivan, QLD (magnitude 5.6 near Near East Coast of Australia). See https://t.co/Tynv3ZQpEq. pic.twitter.com/kicTtLWE17
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) August 16, 2025
The woman initially thought the bottom half of her house must have been hit by a car.
“The room started shaking but didn’t stop,”she said.
“I did think it might collapse.
“It wasn’t that strong but I thought it might grow.
“(I thought) had downstairs been hit by a car.”
Darling Downs residents were in disbelief when the shockwaves of the earthquake rumbled across the region.
Toowoomba businessman Shane MacDonald was sitting in his CBD office when he felt the rumble.
“I had to check if the kids had brought in the dog and if it wasn’t him shaking the monitor,” he said.
Mr MacDonald said he received a call from his wife just after, who had to evacuate their Queenslander home due to the intense shaking.
“She ran out of the house onto the street, where a number of our neighbours were too,” he said.
“I was there for the earthquake in Newcastle in the 80s, it must be following me,” he joked.
A Queensland Rail spokeswoman said the trains had been running at lower speeds for customers’ safety following the earthquake.
She said a delay of up to 30 minutes was impacting all city lines.
Residents near Caboolture reported windows rattling, while those in Calamvale said their houses shook.
Timeline: Queensland’s recent earthquakes.
According to the Queensland Government’s Get Ready Queensland website, the two largest recorded earthquakes in Queensland were Gladstone in 1918 with a magnitude of 6.3, and Gayndah in 1935 measuring a magnitude of 6.1.
The same website says earthquakes from between 5.5 to 6 can cause “slight damage to buildings and other structures”.
A 6.1 to 6.9 magnitude earthquake “may cause a lot of damage in very populated areas” while a 7.0 to 7.9 is considered a “major earthquake” with “serious damage” likely.
It was the first magnitude 1.5 or greater quake in the Brisbane area in more than a year according to website Earthquake Track.
