Magnitude 5.6 earthquake rocks southern Western Australia

An early morning earthquake has rocked thousands of residents awake, with the tremors being felt hours away.

An early morning earthquake has hit southern Western Australia with homes as far away as Perth being rattled.

The 5.6 magnitude earthquake was recorded at a depth of 5km by Geoscience Australia at 5.34am local time on Sunday.

The quake hit just northeast of the small town of Gnowangerup, between Katanning and Albany on the state’s south coast.

More than 1800 people have reported they felt the quake hit, with many flocking to social media to say they felt tremors.

The earthquake's epicentre was near Gnowangerup in the state's Great Southern region. Supplied: GeoScience Australia

Residents as far away as Perth, Kalgoorlie and Bunbury claim they felt the shake, which lasted about 30 seconds.

“Never in my life did I expect to get woken up by an earthquake?” one woman wrote on X.

One user said it rocked their ten-storey building in Perth in the early hours of the morning.

Another woman said she was “shaken” out of bed and woke to her dogs going “crazy”.

Far out. Just woke up to the apartment building shaking in #Perth from an earthquake no less. Pretty surreal way to wake up on a Sunday morning!

— Anthony Morrissey (@antomorro) August 5, 2023

Perth has seemingly had an #Earthquake at around 5.30am this morning. I felt my building shake for maybe 10 seconds and birds disturbed in a nearby park… it felt minor, but hoping everyone is okay and not impacted. #Perth#Perthquake

— Scott Whinfield (@ScottWhinfield) August 5, 2023

Was that an #earthquake that shook my 10 storey building in #Perth#WA today 15 mins ago?

— Fevolenko (@Fevolenko11) August 5, 2023

Never in my life did I expect to get woken up by an earthquake? pic.twitter.com/eXiRS5d90L

— Ever (@Ever_Ness) August 5, 2023

She said: “It sounded like a train coming”.

One man wrote: “I felt my building shake for maybe 10 seconds and birds disturbed in a nearby park … it felt minor, but hoping everyone is okay and not impacted.”

Many have said it was a “surreal” way to wake up in Perth on a Sunday morning.

It is the biggest earthquake to rock the state in recent years, with the largest recorded quake in Western Australia occurring in 1968.

At the time, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake rocked the small Wheatbelt town of Meckering, destroying homes and roads, forcing residents to leave the town completely.

Originally published as Magnitude 5.6 earthquake rocks southern Western Australia