Tremors have been felt in Darwin after a massive earthquake struck a remote area of Indonesia in the Banda Sea.
The 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit about 240 kilometres west of the town of Abepura in Papua province at 10.05am (local time), at a depth of 21 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey, SBS reports.
The Bureau of Meteorology tweeted that the quake posed no tsunami threat to Australia.
According to Northern Territory News, some shops are closing and buildings in the CBD are being evacuated in response.
Meanwhile, many Darwin residents have taken to social media, with one writing: “My house is still shaking in Palmerston. And back wall is slightly cracked.”
Another added: “This earth tremor though!!! My whole desk was shaking #Darwin #earthquake.”
A third wrote: “Always a first. The house was shaking a 7.3 earthquake felt in Darwin. #crazy.”
“Another large earthquake has struck Indonesia, and this time it was large enough to be felt in Darwin and other parts of northern Australia,” Chris Elders from Curtin University said in a statement obtained by Travel at 60.
“This particular earthquake was a result of the relentless northward movement of Australia towards SE Asia – it is moving north at about 7.7 cm per year, and part of the tectonic plate on which Australia sits has collided with Timor and Papua New Guinea.
“Ocean crust continues to move down beneath the Banda Sea, and it is this process of subduction that has resulted in this earthquake.
“The earthquake occurred at a depth of about 200km, and as the energy spreads upwards and outwards from the point at which it occurs, it will be felt in places as far away as Darwin.”